Bitcoin full page on one of South China's most read weekly newspapers.

Nefario

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Quote from: Sandoz on July 11, 2011, 01:00:02 AM

Question: isn't anything appearing in "Southern China's most Read weekly newspaper" inherently approved by the government?

Yes and no.

Yes in that anything printed must be given the OK by the party censors, so that means nothing about human rights etc.

No in the sense that they (the government, party whatever) don't have an opinion on it.

Allowing it to be printed in a paper is not an admission of endorsement.

Sandoz

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Question: isn't anything appearing in "Southern China's most Read weekly newspaper" inherently approved by the government?

netrin

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Quote from: Jaime Frontero on July 10, 2011, 11:45:43 AM

in china it's against the law to use cryptography without a nationally issued license.

Do you happen to know if cryptographically secure hashes fall under the legal definition of cryptography?

oOoOo

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Quote from: Nefario on July 10, 2011, 05:16:47 AM

most Chinese are human

LAWL

billyjoeallen

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VPNS are an obvious way to circumvent the Great Firewall of China.

kloinko1n

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Quote from: Bigpiggy01 on July 10, 2011, 05:14:08 AM

[snip>
This could be a good chance for someone to make a BTC or two by doing a Chinese language GUI for GUIMINER or something similar.

Grin

Or do something useful for himself: learn Chinese! Cool

Bigpiggy01

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Encryption is fully legal here all the biggies like HP, IBM Accenture etc use it hell even Tencent is issuing stuff with the capability to encrypt (admittedly to a SHITTY standard). That cryptography thingy you're referring to is when it's applied to "illicit" activities atm Bitcoin can't be classified as such. Grin

billyjoeallen

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Quote from: Jaime Frontero on July 10, 2011, 12:20:59 PM

Quote from: eyal on July 10, 2011, 12:05:38 PM

Quote from: Jaime Frontero on July 10, 2011, 11:45:43 AM

the thing to keep in mind about china - which hasn't been mentioned on this thread, so far - is that they're no different than any other nation as regards the law. there are enough laws on the books that any time they want you, they've got you.

in china it's against the law to use cryptography without a nationally issued license. i recall reading that there are only a few thousand such licenses that have been issued.

that's really the major stumbling block for the success of Bitcoin in china: you're breaking the law just by installing the client. and once the client includes wallet encryption by default, it'll make folks in china just that much more wary of Bitcoin. and make the government that much more wary, as well.

but - that said - they're just reg'lar folks, as Nefario points out. they'll take their risks for wealth like anybody else.

best of luck to them all, and happy mining.

what about SSL? illegal as well? and Mybitcoin.com ?

IMHO, VPNs are the most obvious way to circumvent the Great Firewall of China.

i dunno about SSL. secure banking comes to mind. but SSL can't encrypt files on your computer, and it isn't unbreakable by governments, so i suppose they use it - but i don't know for sure.

Jaime Frontero

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Quote from: eyal on July 10, 2011, 12:05:38 PM

Quote from: Jaime Frontero on July 10, 2011, 11:45:43 AM

the thing to keep in mind about china - which hasn't been mentioned on this thread, so far - is that they're no different than any other nation as regards the law. there are enough laws on the books that any time they want you, they've got you.

in china it's against the law to use cryptography without a nationally issued license. i recall reading that there are only a few thousand such licenses that have been issued.

that's really the major stumbling block for the success of Bitcoin in china: you're breaking the law just by installing the client. and once the client includes wallet encryption by default, it'll make folks in china just that much more wary of Bitcoin. and make the government that much more wary, as well.

but - that said - they're just reg'lar folks, as Nefario points out. they'll take their risks for wealth like anybody else.

best of luck to them all, and happy mining.

what about SSL? illegal as well? and Mybitcoin.com ?

i dunno about SSL. secure banking comes to mind. but SSL can't encrypt files on your computer, and it isn't unbreakable by governments, so i suppose they use it - but i don't know for sure.

eyal

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Quote from: Jaime Frontero on July 10, 2011, 11:45:43 AM

the thing to keep in mind about china - which hasn't been mentioned on this thread, so far - is that they're no different than any other nation as regards the law. there are enough laws on the books that any time they want you, they've got you.

in china it's against the law to use cryptography without a nationally issued license. i recall reading that there are only a few thousand such licenses that have been issued.

that's really the major stumbling block for the success of Bitcoin in china: you're breaking the law just by installing the client. and once the client includes wallet encryption by default, it'll make folks in china just that much more wary of Bitcoin. and make the government that much more wary, as well.

but - that said - they're just reg'lar folks, as Nefario points out. they'll take their risks for wealth like anybody else.

best of luck to them all, and happy mining.

what about SSL? illegal as well? and Mybitcoin.com ?

billyjoeallen

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Quote from: hugolp on July 10, 2011, 11:35:48 AM

Quote from: billyjoeallen on July 10, 2011, 11:12:52 AM

Chinese currency policy is doomed, just like every other mercantilist/neomercantilist policy has been for 300 years. You may be too young to remember the 1980s, but I do. Everyone was concerned that Japan would overtake the U.S. as the world's largest economy. Movies like Rising Sun and Gung Ho were popular. Japan imploded when their artificial suppression of the Yes unwound. The same will happen to China.

The only way China can maintain its trade surplus is buy weakening it's own currency thereby making it's products cheaper. To do this, they MUST buy dollars or U.S. Treasuries. America is trading worthless IOUs to China for REAL GOODS. China is getting screwed and they are backing into the big American dick.

This will end in disaster, as all central plans do.

Yep.

You can alredy see the cracks in the chinese economy, specially in the energy and housing sectors.

I meant to say "artificial suppression of the YEN." I'd be stocking up on Renmimbi, if I could. When that R/E bubble pops, it'll be the POP heard 'round the world.

Jaime Frontero

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the thing to keep in mind about china - which hasn't been mentioned on this thread, so far - is that they're no different than any other nation as regards the law. there are enough laws on the books that any time they want you, they've got you.

in china it's against the law to use cryptography without a nationally issued license. i recall reading that there are only a few thousand such licenses that have been issued.

that's really the major stumbling block for the success of Bitcoin in china: you're breaking the law just by installing the client. and once the client includes wallet encryption by default, it'll make folks in china just that much more wary of Bitcoin. and make the government that much more wary, as well.

but - that said - they're just reg'lar folks, as Nefario points out. they'll take their risks for wealth like anybody else.

best of luck to them all, and happy mining.

hugolp

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Quote from: billyjoeallen on July 10, 2011, 11:12:52 AM

Chinese currency policy is doomed, just like every other mercantilist/neomercantilist policy has been for 300 years. You may be too young to remember the 1980s, but I do. Everyone was concerned that Japan would overtake the U.S. as the world's largest economy. Movies like Rising Sun and Gung Ho were popular. Japan imploded when their artificial suppression of the Yes unwound. The same will happen to China.

The only way China can maintain its trade surplus is buy weakening it's own currency thereby making it's products cheaper. To do this, they MUST buy dollars or U.S. Treasuries. America is trading worthless IOUs to China for REAL GOODS. China is getting screwed and they are backing into the big American dick.

This will end in disaster, as all central plans do.

Yep.

You can alredy see the cracks in the chinese economy, specially in the energy and housing sectors.

billyjoeallen

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Quote from: wareen on July 10, 2011, 06:39:23 AM

Quote from: Nefario on July 10, 2011, 05:16:47 AM

You know, most Chinese are human, mostly average. It's not like there's an army of uber communazi's here waiting to take over the world only to be held back by their lack of English.

LOL

I guess you pretty much summed up the western world's sinophobia Wink

Quote

China as a whole involving itself in Bitcoins would give an INSANE boost to the BTC economy, there are over 35 million USD millionaires in this country alone and most of them are looking for new and interesting ways to spin a profit.

I'm not so sure if the average Chinese has a very high incentive to use Bitcoin - as far as I understand, China's own currency politics is very sound. The large USD stockpilers on the other hand might probably be looking for some alternatives pretty soon...

Chinese currency policy is doomed, just like every other mercantilist/neomercantilist policy has been for 300 years. You may be too young to remember the 1980s, but I do. Everyone was concerned that Japan would overtake the U.S. as the world's largest economy. Movies like Rising Sun and Gung Ho were popular. Japan imploded when their artificial suppression of the Yes unwound. The same will happen to China.

The only way China can maintain its trade surplus is buy weakening it's own currency thereby making it's products cheaper. To do this, they MUST buy dollars or U.S. Treasuries. America is trading worthless IOUs to China for REAL GOODS. China is getting screwed and they are backing into the big American dick.

This will end in disaster, as all central plans do.

LeFBI

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according to google translate the first comments beneath the article are complaints, saying bitcoin is a scam...
conspiracy go go go! did the chinese regime write these comments?

netrin

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Quote from: Herodes on July 10, 2011, 05:32:49 AM

Does anyone know how the government in China looks at bitcoin yet. Will be see people mysteriously 'vanish' when they're caught mining by the secret police? Will bitcoin.org and other sites be blocked? Perhaps chinese residents getting into bitcoin should take their precautions? I am just saying, the Chinese government is know for having strict control and we all know about 'the great firewall of china'. Apart from these issues, China surely is a huge market!

It's too early to predict how the CPC will look upon Bitcoins. I think it's just as likely the government will buy a massive mining rig as they are to ban it. Consider that the central party actively encourages citizens to buy gold, in fact selling it in banks like the rest of the world buys postage stamps. In any case, China has proven to be very pragmatic about money policy and I expect the govt to take a wait-and-see approach.

I wonder though, if China took a negative stance, could the govt isolate the p2p network (wonder = I don't know)? Couldn't China block the common bitcoin ports?

RogerR

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Quote from: wareen on July 10, 2011, 06:39:23 AM

I'm not so sure if the average Chinese has a very high incentive to use Bitcoin - as far as I understand, China's own currency politics is very sound. The large USD stockpilers on the other hand might probably be looking for some alternatives pretty soon...

10+% YoY inflation (official stats!) does sound very sound indeed.

Nefario

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Quote from: Steve on July 10, 2011, 08:13:01 AM

Well, there is this 2009 law that would seem to apply to bitcoin:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-06/27/content_11610478.htm

I would think at least a few governments would be interested to actually invest in bitcoin as a diversification of their reserves. For a relatively small amount today, they could establish a decent position in bitcoin and setup a mining operation to help secure the network. Maybe bitcoin doesn't end up succeeding, on the other hand...

This article explains exactly why Bitcoin is illegal in China since it's inception.

[edit] Illegal to trade in non-virtual goods also created by the issuer, in bitcoins case there is no central issuer, so it's not illegal to have btc, just to buy anything with it.[/edit]

TraderTimm

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First, thanks to the parent poster for bringing this to our attention.

One item that hasn't been brought up is China's relationship to the U.S.A. I think they would be very interested in bitcoin, because lets face it, this currency is the perfect tool to give the western banking centers a big middle finger. They wouldn't have to worry about negotiated treaties, or any of that. There are no international laws (that I know of) regarding bitcoin explicitly, and if the central banks decide to use it as a tool to kick our banks in the teeth - things will get very interesting around here, quickly.

Guess we'll have to see what unfolds. Thanks also to the "man-on-ground" reports from China, helps us understand how bitcoin is being used, and what the potential government response will be.

Steve

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Well, there is this 2009 law that would seem to apply to bitcoin:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-06/27/content_11610478.htm

I would think at least a few governments would be interested to actually invest in bitcoin as a diversification of their reserves. For a relatively small amount today, they could establish a decent position in bitcoin and setup a mining operation to help secure the network. Maybe bitcoin doesn't end up succeeding, on the other hand...

Topic: Bitcoin full page on one of South China's most read weekly newspapers. (Read 4220 times)