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2024-03-10

WSJ 華爾街日報 - 德黑蘭來信:一個女人如何騙過中國強大的審查機器



德黑蘭來信:一個女人如何騙過中國強大的審查機器

一位年輕女性以偽裝的視角講述了被警察審問的故事,成功蒙蔽了中國互聯網審查機器達數周之久。這背後的現實也說明了活動人士所面臨的的嚴峻挑戰。

旅法中國藝術家胡嘉岷根據德黑蘭獄中來信描述的審訊過程和與筆者真實身份相關的類似場景創作的畫作。

圖片來源:COURTESY OF HU JIAMIN
2024年3月1日18:10 CST 更新
  
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中國引以為傲的互聯網審查員能夠在幾秒鐘內篩選海量資訊,並清除敏感內容。但一位年輕女性卻成功蒙蔽了他們數周之久。

去年農曆新年前後,一封據稱來自德黑蘭監獄的信開始在中國互聯網上流傳。這封信以馬赫薩(Mahsa)的名義描述了伊朗秘密警察如何在鎮壓反頭巾抗議活動時抓走她,並就她的女權主義信仰對她進行審問。

「他在逼我承認我們所有的創作都是在影射最高領袖時,他自己甚至也不敢說出那個名字,」其中一段寫道。「這是多麼可笑啊!」

在接下來的幾天裡,這封信被成千上萬的中國讀者讀到,其中許多人對信中似曾相識的對國家控制的描述感到驚訝。一位用戶在微博上寫道:那究竟是異鄉?還是故鄉?

幾周後,海外網站上出現了一個新版本,答案揭曉了。該信的尾注和後記顯示,「馬赫薩」是一名中國作家,她裝成一名伊朗抗議者,講述了自己被拘留和審訊的故事。這位作家就是伍勤,她曾是一家官方媒體的編輯。

圖為上海一處印有習近平肖像的標語牌。習近平將安全放在首要位置。

圖片來源:JOHANNES EISELE/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

伍勤的信最近被翻譯成英文,是中國少有的成功產生持久影響的異見寫作範例。隨著中國領導人習近平將安全放在首位,傳遞資訊的障礙已上升到新的高度。中國觀察人士說,伍勤以一種迂迴的方式講述了她的故事,這打開了一扇新的窗口,讓人們可以了解中國活動人士目前所面臨的挑戰,以及他們與全球其他在威權統治下受苦受難的人們之間的聯繫。

中國政府的審查制度本來已屬全球最嚴厲之列,近年來更是愈演愈烈。有關部門已經推出了數字過濾器,在查找和刪除敏感內容方面要比人工快得多。這些系統由警察隊伍操作,他們擴大了目標範圍,那些表現出輕微政治反抗的人士也成為目標。這幾乎消滅了異見者傳播聲音和政治活動人士傳遞資訊的空間。

中國著名記者江雪說,隨著牆變得越來越高,資訊的流動需要更多的創造力;這封德黑蘭獄中來信很有啟發。

有中國觀察人士表示,在2022年一個抗議者獨自在北京的一座橋上展開橫幅,呼籲習近平下台後,中國已開始加強政治控制。這一事件發生時,習近平正準備開始打破先例的第三個總書記任期。當時30多歲的伍勤被捲入了隨後的打擊行動。

駐北京時伍勤經常參加藝術家、活動人士和其他知識分子的私下聚會,其中許多人在四通橋抗議活動後成為當局的目標。伍勤在接受採訪時說,當年11月,她住在一個朋友位於廣州的家裡,北京警方前往廣州將她和另外三人拘留。

2022年秋,一名抗議者在北京的一座橋上展開橫幅,呼籲罷免習近平。

圖片來源:SOCIAL MEDIA/VIA REUTERS

警方對他們進行了通宵審訊,然後以「尋釁滋事」為由對伍勤進行了15天的行政拘留。這是中國政府在拘留活動人士時經常使用的一種模糊的罪名。由於新冠疫情相關旅行限制,警方無法將她帶回北京,因此他們決定對她進行警告然後釋放。她說,警察在放她走之前下載了她設備上的數據。

伍勤說,她擔心當局會從上述數據中找到再次逮捕她的理由。朋友們勸她考慮逃離這個國家,並寫一份證詞,以應對再次被拘的可能性。

她曾密切關注伊朗的反頭巾抗議活動。為了能在心理上與她的痛苦經歷保持一些距離,她想到把這些經歷寫成好像發生在伊朗一樣。她說,把自己的故事披上外國的外衣還有一個好處,就是幫助故事通過審查。

她給她的朋友和中國一些知名的持不同政見者起了波斯語名字,並把中國的地名換成了她之前曾經去過兩次的伊朗地名。她說,她給自己取名「馬赫薩」,是為了紀念22歲的馬赫薩·阿米尼(Mahsa Amini)。馬赫薩2022年在德黑蘭被警方拘留期間死亡,引發了伊朗的抗議活動。

她寫道:「(在車上)途中他們不斷地控訴我。」她描述了這些警察當時有多麼惱火,為了抓她要冒著疫情風險出公差。「都不知道能不能順利回到德黑蘭的安樂窩。」

2022年9月,馬赫薩·阿米尼在德黑蘭被警方拘捕期間死亡幾天后,伊斯坦布爾的一名抗議者手持她的肖像。

圖片來源:OZAN KOSE/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

她稱自己被帶到一個警察局的地下室,上廁所時有男性警員在旁邊看守。她寫道,審訊才剛剛開始,她就把手機和電腦的密碼如實上交了。她感嘆自己是多麼軟弱。

她寫道,在獲釋後,在持續的審查和監視下生活讓她的記憶變得斷層,因為在與親朋通過通訊軟體溝通時,她通常會啟動閱後即焚功能。她在寫給母親的這封信中寫道:「我戀戀不舍地看著那些滿是溫度的消息在10s後、30s後或1h後消失;我不敢截屏,因為所有的這一切都可能成為罪證。」

這封信的最初版本於2023年1月發表在微信的一個藝術類公眾號上。當時,警方正在追查前一年年底全國各地爆發的針對疫情限制措施的抗議活動參與者。信中對年輕異見者被安全官員追捕的描寫在具有自由思想的讀者中引發共鳴,他們在自己的社交媒體上分享了這封信。




信中一些小的細節不太可能出現在伊朗,比如只有中國才有的「尋釁滋事」罪名。伍勤說,她希望這些暗示能被讀者發現,而不是被審查人員發現。

起初,幾乎沒有人看穿她的偽裝。一家知名網絡文學雜誌將其視為翻譯作品,在一篇介紹「頭巾革命」的文章中推薦了這封信。

2022年11月,人們在北京抗議防疫措施。

圖片來源:THOMAS PETER/REUTERS

這封信發表幾天后,伍勤在中國與寮國邊境附近的一家餐館坐下來,打算投奔自由之地。她在這封信中添加了尾注,明確了與中國的關聯,並與朋友們分享了這封信。她告訴朋友,如果她在試圖離開時被捕,就把帶尾注的版本公布出來。

伍勤最終在德國安頓下來。3月,她感覺自己與中國的社群失去了聯繫,於是決定在一條微信資訊中透露自己就是這封信的作者。

據發布這封信的微信賬號稱,幾小時內,這封信的原始版本吸引了數萬人瀏覽,總閱讀量超過了10萬。然後這封信就被審查人員過濾了。隨後伍勤的所有中國社交媒體賬號被封。

生活在瑞典的中國性別與社會活動學者曾金燕說,與以往大多為男性的中國異見人士的文章不同,伍勤這封信具有故事性,更為個人視角。她說,這反映出中國社會活動的面貌正在發生變化,女性正在其中扮演更加重要的角色。

目前,伍勤居住在柏林,她已重新開始為中國讀者撰寫有關其他國家弱勢群體的文章,例如2021年緬甸軍事政變後流亡的緬甸人。

伍勤說,中國對言論的限制使得那裡的活動人士幾乎無法進行連貫的表達。

她說,如果這些活動人士能夠照顧好自己,那就是一種勝利,如果他們還能有能量和創造力發出了一些聲音,那是萬幸。她說,韌性是最重要的。

德黑兰来信:一个女人如何骗过中国强大的审查机器

一位年轻女性以伪装的视角讲述了被警察审问的故事,成功蒙蔽了中国互联网审查机器达数周之久。这背后的现实也说明了活动人士所面临的的严峻挑战。

旅法中国艺术家胡嘉岷根据德黑兰狱中来信描述的审讯过程和与笔者真实身份相关的类似场景创作的画作。

图片来源:COURTESY OF HU JIAMIN
2024年3月1日18:10 CST 更新
  
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China's vaunted internet censors are capable of sifting an ocean of information and eradicating sensitive content within seconds. One young woman managed to hoodwink them for weeks. 

中国引以为傲的互联网审查员能够在几秒钟内筛选海量信息,并清除敏感内容。但一位年轻女性却成功蒙蔽了他们数周之久。

The text of a letter purportedly sent from a Tehran prison began to circulate on the Chinese internet last year around Lunar New Year. Its author, writing under the name Mahsa, described how Iranian secret police snatched her during a crackdown on anti-headscarf protests and interrogated her about her feminist beliefs.

去年农历新年前后,一封据称来自德黑兰监狱的信开始在中国互联网上流传。这封信以马赫萨(Mahsa)的名义描述了伊朗秘密警察如何在镇压反头巾抗议活动时抓走她,并就她的女权主义信仰对她进行审问。

"When he pushed me to admit that all our work vilified the Supreme Leader, he didn't even dare to say his name himself," read one passage. "What a joke!" 

"他在逼我承认我们所有的创作都是在影射最高领袖时,他自己甚至也不敢说出那个名字,"其中一段写道。"这是多么可笑啊!"

Over the following days, the letter reached thousands of Chinese readers, many of whom marveled at its familiar descriptions of state control. "Is this a strange land?" wrote one user on the popular social-media platform Weibo. "Or is this the homeland?" 

在接下来的几天里,这封信被成千上万的中国读者读到,其中许多人对信中似曾相识的对国家控制的描述感到惊讶。一位用户在微博上写道:那究竟是异乡?还是故乡?

The answer arrived weeks later when a new version appeared on overseas websites. It had footnotes and an epilogue revealing that "Mahsa" was a Chinese writer who had adopted the persona of an Iranian protester to tell the story of her own detention and interrogation. That writer would turn out to be Wu Qin, a former editor at a state-run media outlet. 

几周后,海外网站上出现了一个新版本,答案揭晓了。该信的尾注和后记显示,"马赫萨"是一名中国作家,她装成一名伊朗抗议者,讲述了自己被拘留和审讯的故事。这位作家就是伍勤,她曾是一家官方媒体的编辑。

图为上海一处印有习近平肖像的标语牌。习近平将安全放在首要位置。

图片来源:JOHANNES EISELE/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

Recently translated into English, Wu's letter is a rare example of subversive writing in China that has managed to have enduring impact. Barriers to communication have soared to new heights as leader Xi Jinping gives priority to security above all else. In reaching for a roundabout way to tell her story, Chinese observers say, Wu has opened a new window into the challenges activists in China now wrestle with, and the links they have with others laboring under authoritarian rule around the globe.

伍勤的信最近被翻译成英文,是中国少有的成功产生持久影响的异见写作范例。随着中国领导人习近平将安全放在首位,传递信息的障碍已上升到新的高度。中国观察人士说,伍勤以一种迂回的方式讲述了她的故事,这打开了一扇新的窗口,让人们可以了解中国活动人士目前所面临的挑战,以及他们与全球其他在威权统治下受苦受难的人们之间的联系。

Chinese government censorship, already some of the most suffocating in the world, has grown more intense in recent years. Authorities have rolled out digital filters that are exponentially faster than humans at finding and zapping sensitive content. Those systems are operated by a police force that has broadened its list of targets to include people who demonstrate even mild political defiance. That has all but eradicated the space for dissenting voices to spread and for political activists to communicate.

中国政府的审查制度本来已属全球最严厉之列,近年来更是愈演愈烈。有关部门已经推出了数字过滤器,在查找和删除敏感内容方面要比人工快得多。这些系统由警察队伍操作,他们扩大了目标范围,那些表现出轻微政治反抗的人士也成为目标。这几乎消灭了异见者传播声音和政治活动人士传递信息的空间。

"As the wall gets higher and higher, the flow of information requires more creativity," said Jiang Xue, a prominent Chinese journalist. "The Letter from a Tehran Prison is a great inspiration."

中国著名记者江雪说,随着墙变得越来越高,信息的流动需要更多的创造力;这封德黑兰狱中来信很有启发。

Chinese observers said a dialing up of political controls in China began after a lone protester unfurled banners on a bridge in Beijing in the fall of 2022 calling for Xi to be deposed. The incident occurred as Xi was set to claim his norm-breaking third term as leader of the Communist Party. Wu, in her mid-30s, was caught up in the ensuing crackdown. 

有中国观察人士表示,在2022年一个抗议者独自在北京的一座桥上展开横幅,呼吁习近平下台后,中国已开始加强政治控制。这一事件发生时,习近平正准备开始打破先例的第三个总书记任期。当时30多岁的伍勤被卷入了随后的打击行动。

Based in Beijing, Wu often attended private gatherings of artists, activists and other intellectuals, many of whom were targeted by authorities after the bridge protest. That November, police from Beijing traveled to the southern city of Guangzhou, where Wu was staying with friends, and detained her along with three others, Wu said in an interview.

驻北京时伍勤经常参加艺术家、活动人士和其他知识分子的私下聚会,其中许多人在四通桥抗议活动后成为当局的目标。伍勤在接受采访时说,当年11月,她住在一个朋友位于广州的家里,北京警方前往广州将她和另外三人拘留。

2022年秋,一名抗议者在北京的一座桥上展开横幅,呼吁罢免习近平。

图片来源:SOCIAL MEDIA/VIA REUTERS

The police interrogated them overnight, then issued Wu 15 days of administrative detention for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble," a vague offense the government often uses to round up activists. Pandemic travel restrictions prevented the police from transporting her back to Beijing, so they decided to let her off with a warning. They downloaded data from her devices before letting her go, she said. 

警方对他们进行了通宵审讯,然后以"寻衅滋事"为由对伍勤进行了15天的行政拘留。这是中国政府在拘留活动人士时经常使用的一种模糊的罪名。由于新冠疫情相关旅行限制,警方无法将她带回北京,因此他们决定对她进行警告然后释放。她说,警察在放她走之前下载了她设备上的数据。

Wu said she worried that authorities would find something in the data to justify arresting her again. Friends urged her to consider fleeing the country and to write a testimony in case she was taken into custody again. 

伍勤说,她担心当局会从上述数据中找到再次逮捕她的理由。朋友们劝她考虑逃离这个国家,并写一份证词,以应对再次被拘的可能性。

She had paid close attention to the protests in Iran against headscarves. To give herself some distance from her experiences, she came up with the idea of writing about them as if they had taken place there instead. Cloaking her story in foreign clothing had the secondary benefit of helping it slip past censors, she said.

她曾密切关注伊朗的反头巾抗议活动。为了能在心理上与她的痛苦经历保持一些距离,她想到把这些经历写成好像发生在伊朗一样。她说,把自己的故事披上外国的外衣还有一个好处,就是帮助故事通过审查。

She gave Persian names to her friends and some prominent Chinese dissidents, and switched Chinese place names for places in Iran, which she had visited twice before. She said she named herself Mahsa in tribute to Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old whose 2022 death in police custody in Tehran sparked the Iranian protests.

她给她的朋友和中国一些知名的持不同政见者起了波斯语名字,并把中国的地名换成了她之前曾经去过两次的伊朗地名。她说,她给自己取名"马赫萨",是为了纪念22岁的马赫萨·阿米尼(Mahsa Amini)。马赫萨2022年在德黑兰被警方拘留期间死亡,引发了伊朗的抗议活动。

"In the car, they incessantly berated me," she wrote. She described how irritated the police were at being dispatched from the capital to fetch her in the middle of the pandemic. "No one knew whether they would be able to make it back safely to their cozy nest in Tehran." 

她写道:"(在车上)途中他们不断地控诉我。"她描述了这些警察当时有多么恼火,为了抓她要冒着疫情风险出公差。"都不知道能不能顺利回到德黑兰的安乐窝。"

2022年9月,马赫萨·阿米尼在德黑兰被警方拘捕期间死亡几天后,伊斯坦布尔的一名抗议者手持她的肖像。

图片来源:OZAN KOSE/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

She described being taken to the basement of a police station and having male officers stand guard over her when she used the toilet. She wrote about feeling shame at giving up her device passwords almost immediately after her interrogation began.  

她称自己被带到一个警察局的地下室,上厕所时有男性警员在旁边看守。她写道,审讯才刚刚开始,她就把手机和电脑的密码如实上交了。她感叹自己是多么软弱。

After being released, she wrote, she struggled with the fractured memory that comes with living under constant censorship and surveillance, which often means communicating with loved ones by means of disappearing messages. "I reluctantly watch as messages full of warmth disappear after 10 seconds, 30 seconds, or one hour," she wrote in the letter, which was addressed to the author's mother. "I don't dare take screenshots because anything can become evidence."

她写道,在获释后,在持续的审查和监视下生活让她的记忆变得断层,因为在与亲朋通过通讯软件沟通时,她通常会启动阅后即焚功能。她在写给母亲的这封信中写道:"我恋恋不舍地看着那些满是温度的消息在10s后、30s后或1h后消失;我不敢截屏,因为所有的这一切都可能成为罪证。"

The original version of the letter was published in January 2023, in a public account dedicated to the arts on the popular do-everything app WeChat. At the time, police were tracking down participants in nationwide protests against Covid restrictions that had broken out late the prior year. The letter's portrayal of young dissidents being hounded by security officials struck a chord with liberal-minded readers, who shared it in their own social media feeds. 

这封信的最初版本于2023年1月发表在微信的一个艺术类公众号上。当时,警方正在追查前一年年底全国各地爆发的针对疫情限制措施的抗议活动参与者。信中对年轻异见者被安全官员追捕的描写在具有自由思想的读者中引发共鸣,他们在自己的社交媒体上分享了这封信。

Parts of the letter contain minor details that are unlikely to be set in Iran, such as the crime of "picking quarrels," which only exists in China. Wu said she hoped those hints would be picked up by her readers, but not the censors. 

信中一些小的细节不太可能出现在伊朗,比如只有中国才有的"寻衅滋事"罪名。伍勤说,她希望这些暗示能被读者发现,而不是被审查人员发现。

Initially, few saw through the camouflage. An acclaimed online literature magazine, taking it as a work of translation, recommended it in an introduction to the hijab revolution. 

起初,几乎没有人看穿她的伪装。一家知名网络文学杂志将其视为翻译作品,在一篇介绍"头巾革命"的文章中推荐了这封信。

2022年11月,人们在北京抗议防疫措施。

图片来源:THOMAS PETER/REUTERS

A few days after the letter was published, Wu sat down at a restaurant at China's border with Laos, and planned to make a run for freedom. She added footnotes to the letter that made explicit the connection to China, and shared it with friends. She told them to release the footnoted version if she was arrested attempting to leave. 

这封信发表几天后,伍勤在中国与老挝边境附近的一家餐馆坐下来,打算投奔自由之地。她在这封信中添加了尾注,明确了与中国的关联,并与朋友们分享了这封信。她告诉朋友,如果她在试图离开时被捕,就把带尾注的版本公布出来。

Wu eventually settled in Germany. In March, feeling disconnected from her community in China, she decided to reveal herself as the author of the letter in a message on WeChat.

伍勤最终在德国安顿下来。3月,她感觉自己与中国的社群失去了联系,于是决定在一条微信信息中透露自己就是这封信的作者。

Within hours, the original version of the letter attracted tens of thousands more views—pushing its total readership above 100,000, according to the WeChat account that published it—before censors blocked it. All of Wu's Chinese social-media accounts were subsequently suspended. 

据发布这封信的微信账号称,几小时内,这封信的原始版本吸引了数万人浏览,总阅读量超过了10万。然后这封信就被审查人员屏蔽了。随后伍勤的所有中国社交媒体账号被封。

The storytelling power of Wu's letter is a departure from the writings of previous, mostly male Chinese dissidents, which tended to be less personal, said Zeng Jinyan, a Sweden-based Chinese scholar on gender and social activism. She said it reflects the changing face of Chinese activism, which is increasingly being driven by women. 

生活在瑞典的中国性别与社会活动学者曾金燕说,与以往大多为男性的中国异见人士的文章不同,伍勤这封信具有故事性,更为个人视角。她说,这反映出中国社会活动的面貌正在发生变化,女性正在其中扮演更加重要的角色。

Now living in Berlin, Wu has resumed writing for a Chinese audience about dispossessed groups in other countries, such as Burmese people living in exile after the 2021 military coup in Myanmar.  




目前,伍勤居住在柏林,她已重新开始为中国读者撰写有关其他国家弱势群体的文章,例如2021年缅甸军事政变后流亡的缅甸人。

Restriction of speech in China has made coherent expression all but impossible for activists there, Wu said.

伍勤说,中国对言论的限制使得那里的活动人士几乎无法进行连贯的表达。

"It's a triumph if the activists can just take care of themselves, and a bonus if they can still find the energy and creativity to speak out," she said. "Resilience is crucial."

她说,如果这些活动人士能够照顾好自己,那就是一种胜利,如果他们还能有能量和创造力发出了一些声音,那是万幸。她说,韧性是最重要的。











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