Chinese authorities take a stab at blogging - sort of

Wired News reports that the Chinese government has set up blogging for members of the official National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, which meet this week. Small hitch, though. Only eight members have been authorized to post. Is this not the antithesis of the blog? Chinese readers can read the scintillating posts at http://blog.people.com.cn

In one posting, National People's Congress delegate Zhou Hongyu wrote that serving in the legislature is a way to "fulfill my duty and be a better deputy."

"I hope to collect the wishes of the people, listen to their will and experience the people's lives," wrote Zhou, a representative from the southern province of Hunan who advocates education reform.

 At least one authorized poster got into the full disclosure swing of things:

Under the heading "latest blog photos," are five women in black and white lingerie. Captions read "Such a charming photo is easy on the eyes" and "This beautiful lady is wonderful."

One posting, written under the pseudonym "the son of Qian Jiang," describes the author's drinking experiences, including one instance where five bottles of expensive liquor are consumed at the cost of 2,000 yuan, ($250).