5 ms·

The question is, how did the Chinese immigration know? for each applicant do select count(*) from people_who_pissed_us where social_username = applicant.fb.use

The question is, how did the Chinese immigration know? for each applicant do select count(*) from people_who_pissed_us where social_username = applicant.fb.username?

0x4f3759df 8y ago
One infers their systems are highly integrated (tax/crime/social/banking/education/gps all unified)
- wyldfire 8y ago
  Or even as simple as a procedure: (1) search for the applicant on google/baidu (2) if the searches reveal support or sympathy for dissident or seditious activity, deny the visa application.
- mlazos 8y ago
  One would think, but at the same time knowing the bureaucratic garbage that happens at tech companies (and I would think communist party HQ is a bit worse), I imagine their system is likely a giant mess and it probably took a number of months to get back about the visa.
- chrischen 8y ago
  It's actually quite surprising how un-integrated US government agencies and systems are.
  - kardos 8y ago
    It's not a bug, it's a feature
    - 0x8BADF00D 8y ago
      Decentralization is what most of the founding fathers wished for. It is indeed a feature, and one we must all be vigilant of.
    - chrischen 8y ago
      Yes but it's also the primary source of a lot of government waste (the same type of waste the conservatives are against). I think it makes sense to separate local, state, and federal governments, but there's surprisingly little government data sharing between even federal government agencies, even when there's jurisdiction overlap.
      - kardos 8y ago
        It may be the price to pay in to avoid your government becoming a highly efficient oppression machine
- Markoff 8y ago
  not that integrated, as matter of fact until last few years and maybe still even nowadays labor bureau database was not linked to Visa EEB database, so i could get work permit on invalid visa although they should be strictly linked i guess they are quite thorough only when it comes down to dissent (though my wife in gov job hit immediately career ceiling after marrying me and everyone around her even newcomers kept growing except her, sure just coincidence /s and we both can't still really publicly say what we want because she has there parents and rest of family)
hangonhn 8y ago
It's not that hard. When you apply for a visa you must state if you're a journalist or not. After that, a quick Google should suffice, especially if the articles written by her became popular.
- lostlogin 8y ago
  > a quick Google After switching of The Great Firewall for ones own browser, that pesky thing blocks useful information.
  - hangonhn 8y ago
    But the government doesn't block itself. I'm sure the Chinese government can access the open Internet.
    - C7H8N4O2 8y ago
      Architect of China’s ‘Great Firewall’ Bumps Into It https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/07/world/asia/china-internet-great-firewall-fang-binxing.html https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/07/world/asia/china-internet...
- DaiPlusPlus 8y ago
  What constitutes journalism? I remember in the mid-2000s that online-journalists whose sites had millions of impressions per month were denied journalism visas because they weren’t traditional established print newspapers - then there was a debate about the difference between a blogger and a journalist. I’d like to know if a non-journalist who maintained a very popular blog, such as an influential software engineer, who occasionally blogs about political or topical stories, constitutes a journalist or not. If they’re in the country for an industry conference but write about political events on their blog while they’re in the country have they violated their visa?
  - hangonhn 8y ago
    That's a very valid question and from their documents, it looks like they define journalist as someone who does it professionally as a career: "The term "resident foreign journalists" means career journalists who are dispatched by foreign media organizations to be stationed in China for a period of not less than six months for news coverage and reporting." http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/ywzn/mtyw/press_1/t944225.htm http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/ywzn/mtyw/press_1/t944225.h...
OedipusRex 8y ago
China is really good at keeping track of dissent.
factsaresacred 8y ago
Ha, you've no idea how good they are at this. It's a high-tech surveillance state presiding over 1.5 billion people with a history of crushing (quite literally, sadly) or 'disappearing' any signs of dissent. Anecdotally: I once partnered with a Chinese cultural institute for a big event and ended up having my Gmail hacked as part of the compensation. They gotta know you're not a Tibetan separatist after all!
- spicytunacone 8y ago
  That's pretty crazy. Any idea how they hacked your Gmail account? MITM/intercepting your password? How did you find out? Did Google inform you some IP in a bizarre location signed in?
  - factsaresacred 8y ago
    Not sure, could have been as mundane as me using one of the staff laptops to login to Google - a no-no in retrospect. Yep, a warning similar to this one, but in Gmail: https://news-cdn.softpedia.com/images/news2/Google-Extends-Suspicious-Activity-Warning-to-All-Accounts-2.png https://news-cdn.softpedia.com/images/news2/Google-Extends-S...
vincvinc 8y ago
Other replies seem to suggest that China is amazingly good at filtering out dissidents in their visa application process... Actually it’s just that if you want to be a foreign journalist and live in China, you need to apply for a special Journalist visa. The process of application for those is much more difficult than other types of visa. Which makes it very easy to select which media to approve.

The question is, how did the Chinese immigration know? for each applicant do select count(*) from people_who_pissed_us where social_username = applicant.fb.username?

0x4f3759df 8y ago

One infers their systems are highly integrated (tax/crime/social/banking/education/gps all unified)

wyldfire 8y ago
Or even as simple as a procedure: (1) search for the applicant on google/baidu (2) if the searches reveal support or sympathy for dissident or seditious activity, deny the visa application.
mlazos 8y ago
One would think, but at the same time knowing the bureaucratic garbage that happens at tech companies (and I would think communist party HQ is a bit worse), I imagine their system is likely a giant mess and it probably took a number of months to get back about the visa.
chrischen 8y ago
It's actually quite surprising how un-integrated US government agencies and systems are.
- kardos 8y ago
  It's not a bug, it's a feature
  - 0x8BADF00D 8y ago
    Decentralization is what most of the founding fathers wished for. It is indeed a feature, and one we must all be vigilant of.
  - chrischen 8y ago
    Yes but it's also the primary source of a lot of government waste (the same type of waste the conservatives are against). I think it makes sense to separate local, state, and federal governments, but there's surprisingly little government data sharing between even federal government agencies, even when there's jurisdiction overlap.
    - kardos 8y ago
      It may be the price to pay in to avoid your government becoming a highly efficient oppression machine
Markoff 8y ago
not that integrated, as matter of fact until last few years and maybe still even nowadays labor bureau database was not linked to Visa EEB database, so i could get work permit on invalid visa although they should be strictly linked i guess they are quite thorough only when it comes down to dissent (though my wife in gov job hit immediately career ceiling after marrying me and everyone around her even newcomers kept growing except her, sure just coincidence /s and we both can't still really publicly say what we want because she has there parents and rest of family)

hangonhn 8y ago

It's not that hard. When you apply for a visa you must state if you're a journalist or not. After that, a quick Google should suffice, especially if the articles written by her became popular.

lostlogin 8y ago
> a quick Google After switching of The Great Firewall for ones own browser, that pesky thing blocks useful information.
- hangonhn 8y ago
  But the government doesn't block itself. I'm sure the Chinese government can access the open Internet.
  - C7H8N4O2 8y ago
    Architect of China’s ‘Great Firewall’ Bumps Into It https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/07/world/asia/china-internet-great-firewall-fang-binxing.html https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/07/world/asia/china-internet...
DaiPlusPlus 8y ago
What constitutes journalism? I remember in the mid-2000s that online-journalists whose sites had millions of impressions per month were denied journalism visas because they weren’t traditional established print newspapers - then there was a debate about the difference between a blogger and a journalist. I’d like to know if a non-journalist who maintained a very popular blog, such as an influential software engineer, who occasionally blogs about political or topical stories, constitutes a journalist or not. If they’re in the country for an industry conference but write about political events on their blog while they’re in the country have they violated their visa?
- hangonhn 8y ago
  That's a very valid question and from their documents, it looks like they define journalist as someone who does it professionally as a career: "The term "resident foreign journalists" means career journalists who are dispatched by foreign media organizations to be stationed in China for a period of not less than six months for news coverage and reporting." http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/ywzn/mtyw/press_1/t944225.htm http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/ywzn/mtyw/press_1/t944225.h...

OedipusRex 8y ago

China is really good at keeping track of dissent.

factsaresacred 8y ago

Ha, you've no idea how good they are at this. It's a high-tech surveillance state presiding over 1.5 billion people with a history of crushing (quite literally, sadly) or 'disappearing' any signs of dissent. Anecdotally: I once partnered with a Chinese cultural institute for a big event and ended up having my Gmail hacked as part of the compensation. They gotta know you're not a Tibetan separatist after all!

spicytunacone 8y ago
That's pretty crazy. Any idea how they hacked your Gmail account? MITM/intercepting your password? How did you find out? Did Google inform you some IP in a bizarre location signed in?
- factsaresacred 8y ago
  Not sure, could have been as mundane as me using one of the staff laptops to login to Google - a no-no in retrospect. Yep, a warning similar to this one, but in Gmail: https://news-cdn.softpedia.com/images/news2/Google-Extends-Suspicious-Activity-Warning-to-All-Accounts-2.png https://news-cdn.softpedia.com/images/news2/Google-Extends-S...

vincvinc 8y ago

Other replies seem to suggest that China is amazingly good at filtering out dissidents in their visa application process... Actually it’s just that if you want to be a foreign journalist and live in China, you need to apply for a special Journalist visa. The process of application for those is much more difficult than other types of visa. Which makes it very easy to select which media to approve.