VICTORY - Hao Wu Freed - New American Media has just come out with a decent article on Blogger/Filmmaker Hao Wu's ordeal in Beijing - locked up from Feb 22 to July 11. His film Beijing or Bust chronicled the experiences of a handful of Chinese Americans that relocate to Beijing and other cities in Chinese to live.

Bloggers Help Free Chinese Filmmaker
New America Media, News Analysis, Eugenia Chien, Jul 25, 2006

Editor’s Note: Thanks in large part to bloggers, Chinese blogger and filmmaker Hao Wu is finally freed after spending nearly five months in a Beijing jail. While China is trying to crack down on Internet dissidents, notes NAM writer Eugenia Chien, the Internet community is fighting back, despite the obvious risks.

When Chinese filmmaker Hao Wu did not show up on Feb. 22 to meet a friend at the gym in Beijing, the Internet community jumped into action. A picture of Wu on a shocking red background and bright yellow text that said “Free Hao Wu” soon popped up on hundreds of blogs in China as well as around the world.

Within weeks, about 1,000 websites carried the picture of Wu, which linked to a website called FreeHaoWu.com where information about the case was constantly updated. It was a virtual version of going block by block to post fliers for a missing person.

Wu, a Chinese citizen with U.S. permanent residency, was finally released on July 11 after nearly five months in detention. His case is a testament to the power of the blogging community to generate information and gather support. With an estimated 60 million bloggers in China, blogs have become a powerful tool of social support for causes ranging from feminism to freedom of speech.

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