VIP Reference
Date: 1998
Region: Asia
Subject: Political/Economic/Social Opinion
Medium: Electronic Media
Artist: Lin Hai
Confronting Bodies: Shanghai foreign affairs office officials
Dates of Action: December 1998
Location: Shanghai, China
Description of Artwork: Lin Hai was accused of using the Internet to subvert the Chinese socialist system.
The Incident: Lin Hai was arrested in December 1998 for supplying e-mail addresses to an overseas publication called VIP Reference which enabled them to bypass China's censor. Lin Hai was charged with "subverting the socialist system."
Results of Incident: Lin Hai's trial was closed to the public. Chinese officials suggests that it "involves government internal affairs."
Source: Index on Censorship, 1/99