Imagethief

Another year, another congressional hearing at which American technology and Internet firms are taken to task for propping up the Golden Shield. This time it's Cisco taking it on the chin, thanks to the emergence of an internal presentation in which they apparently discuss the business opportunities presented by the Great Firewall.

I won't get too far into the details. As these hearings go, it was a fairly small-time affair, with a limited roster of politicians and none of the fiery histrionics or stage management of last year's operatic grilling of Yahoo. I guess with the passing of the great Tom Lantos earlier this year, some of the spark is gone. But there was one thing I wanted to comment on. The photograph published with CNET's article on the hearings shows two of the politicians conducting the hearings with an enormous printout of cartoon Internet cops Jing Jing and Cha Cha:

The two cartoon coppers have also received widespread press coverage and attention from activists.

I understand why Americans in particular and activists in general get incensed about China's Internet censorship. But I've always wondered about this particular fascination with Jing Jing and Cha Cha. What is it about two cartoon cops that is so guaranteed to get people worked up? In the grand sweep of the Great Firewall and the greater Golden Shield project Jing Jing and Cha Cha, who were originally created by the Shenzhen city government, are hardly the most worrying or threatening thing.

All I can figure is that there is some cognitive dissonance created by the use of a pair of cute, doe-eyed mascots as the symbols of a project that Americans find so viscerally disturbing. Plus, I suppose, they are really all there is to go on if you're a politician looking for a convenient, catchy visual shorthand to represent the perfidy of the GFW to a domestic audience. Hence they are doomed to continued infamy out of all proportion to actual role in the great Chinese censorship apparatus.

I don't know what Chinese netizens themselves think of Jing Jing and Cha Cha. I expect they tune them out completely. Personally, I see them as a curiosity. They strolled across the screen yesterday as I was looking at Sina's pages of comments on the amounts donated to earthquake relief by various companies:

If you're wondering, the top comment excoriates Chinese electronics maker Aigo, who's Chinese name translates as "Patriot", for their relatively puny donation to earthquake relief. "Good thing I didn't buy their camera! I wouldn't dare to take it out!" (Roughly.) The second comment defends them, pointing out that they're only a small company. Meanwhile, Jing Jing and Cha Cha exhort me to reject vulgar content and strive to expand harmony. (And actually, as I wrote this, Cha Cha made a pass on another page on a motorcycle. That guy is everywhere.)

Frankly, I think anyone who spends time on Chinese BBS threads rapidly starts thinking a little law and order might not be a bad thing. In fact, I've often thought the same thing about American Internet comment threads, especially on the political blogs. That's why I'd like to make a suggestion. America is exporting network technology to China. Perhaps China could export Jing Jing and Cha Cha to America in return. Who knows what good they might accomplish on the pages of Daily Kos, Powerline or Little Green Footballs.

They might need to be updated to something altogether more threatening to resonate with American audiences. Maybe something in a kind of Dirty Harry, "Do you feel lucky?"* motif. I am not much of an artist, but if anyone wants to submit designs, we can go into business together. I promise you a cut of the untold filthy lucre that will no doubt roll in. 

Put down the laptop and back away slowly, punk.

 *Yes, I know that's a misquote.