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<\/p>\nBy China Change, published: June 9, 2014<\/p>\n
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On Monday, June 9th, China\u2019s state-run media outlet China News (\u4e2d\u65b0\u7f51) reported that Beijing police had arrested a 22-year-old young female by the family name Zhao for posting an article on Twitter that teaches how to use a pseudo base station \u201cto send illegal information.\u201d According to the report, the Chinese internet security police formed a task force to solve the case as soon as they discovered this particular tweet, and a multi-agency investigation led to Zhao\u2019s arrest and the confiscation of her \u201ccriminal tool\u201d \u2013 a laptop computer.<\/p>\n
The news alarmed the Chinese Twitter community. Many of them recalled a tweet they had read before June 4th, the 25th anniversary of Tian\u2019anmen democracy movement, by \u201c\u8d75\u4f60@RFITB\u201d on May 24, 2014:<\/p>\n
\u201cMy brain hole opened up briefly [had a flash of genius] this afternoon, and I wrote a June 4th Anniversary \u2022 A Conceptual Plan for Using Pseudo Base Station https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/1dVKJEvRk2meACO4oVRgR5OrvkkoRgTKP8Mysrw8ZNzk\/edit?usp=sharing \u2026 I have no idea whether this is doable. I don\u2019t have the capacity to do it, but if you think it is an actionable concept, please spread it. #\u91cd\u56de\u5929\u5b89\u95e8 #\u516d\u56db\u201d<\/p>\n
The tweet has the hashtag of \u201creturn to Tian\u2019anmen\u201d and \u201cJune 4th\u201d but the Chinese official report avoided mentioning any of these phrases.<\/p>\n
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\nZHAO HUAXU (\u8d75\u534e\u65ed)<\/p>\n
The conceptual plan (new link embedded as the original link seemed to have been severed as this report was written) first thanks CCTV\u2019s March 15 evening show that airs consumer product scandals for learning about the pseudo base station, what it is and how it works. The plan\u2019s stated purpose is to use pseudo base station to spread \u201cknowledge about June 4th and send messages to 2G cellphone users in certain areas to promote a \u2018Return to Tian\u2019anmen\u2019 campaign\u201d<\/p>\n
Taking into consideration risk factors, the plan calls for multiple vehicles to drive through Tian\u2019anmen Square during days leading up to June 4th to send information, each making a quick excursion to avoid being detected.<\/p>\n
The proposed plan also provides links to literature on how a pseudo base station works and where to purchase one. The author states that he or she is a student and this is only an idea that needs to be perfected with others\u2019 input. The author says he or she is willing to provide RMB200 to support the purchase and use of pseudo base stations.<\/p>\n
Tweeps in Twitter\u2019s Chinese community quickly found information about the 22-year-old female on Facebook, Twitter and on China\u2019s Renren. Her name appears to be Zhao Huaxu (\u8d75\u534e\u65ed), a sophomore in Beijing International Studies University, better known among Chinese as Beijing Second Foreign Language College (\u5317\u4eac\u7b2c\u4e8c\u5916\u56fd\u8bed\u5b66\u9662), majoring in business English. (via @Arctosia, @wenyunchao, @lijiansion and @OutdoorAYA).<\/p>\n
What is a pseudo base station? @OutdoorAYA explains: It is a security flaw of the GSM, or Global System for Mobile Communications, where a base station will verify a user, but the end user will not verify the base station. In other words, as long as you can send radio signals similar to that of a GSM base station, you can connect GSM cellphones in your vicinity with your pseudo base station, and you can send text messages to these cellphones.<\/p>\n
The Chinese authorities, led by the Central Internet Security and Informatization Leading Group (\u4e2d\u592e\u7f51\u7edc\u5b89\u5168\u548c\u4fe1\u606f\u5316\u9886\u5bfc\u5c0f\u7ec4), have been conducting a nationwide crackdown on the use of pseudo base stations since February. On May 22, a Beijing court announced a verdict on the city\u2019s first pseudo base station case, and a man was sentenced to four years in prison for sending 160,000 or so \u201ctrash text messages\u201d in the city\u2019s busy districts. Many fraud groups have been using pseudo base station to send information, others use it to send real estate commercials for real estate companies.<\/p>\n
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\nZHAO HUAXU (VIA @LIJIANSION). CLICK TO ENLARGE.<\/p>\n
Ms. Zhao Huaxu was aware of China\u2019s crackdown on the use of pseudo base stations and, in her proposed plan, she warned that \u201cif the 25th anniversary pseudo base station activities are discovered, those who are arrested for it could very well be facing several charges.\u201d She didn\u2019t seem to have thought about the risk in making the kind of proposal she did in the Chinese society of today where you seem to be free until you exercise your most fundamental rights.<\/p>\n
One tweep is of the opinion that \u201cthe arrest of @RFITB is not because she has interacted with someone or discussed the topics of Tian\u2019anmen movement, but because of the proposal she made. As a method of breaking information blockage, pseudo base station hits CCP\u2019s weakness. When it is used in an one-man guerrilla style without him or her revisiting the same location too soon, such asymmetrical strategy can make offline impact that is hard to control and remedy, and it is very costly to try to prevent it.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Twitter newcomer asked how the Chinese police could have found out the identity of Ms. Zhao Huaxu. A veteran tweep who attended the June 4th vigil in Victoria Park in Hong Kong replied, speaking of his return to mainland China after the vigil, \u201cAs soon as my plane landed, I was approached and interrogated by Big Brother\u2019s people. I would say every single tweet is being closely watched by someone.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Update (9:20 am EST, June 10, 2014): According to Beijing-based prominent democracy activist Hu Jia, Zhao \u67d0\u67d0 in China News report is indeed Zhao Huaxu, a rising senior (class 2015) of Beijing Second Foreign Language College. Hu Jia also found that Zhao Huaxu was detained a week ago.<\/p>\n
From:http:\/\/chinachange.org\/2014\/06\/09\/young-chinese-twitter-user-arrested-for-teaching-a-method-to-spread-illegal-information\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By China Change, published: June 9, 2014 … Continue reading