Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009

Image via Wikipedia

The Internet has been a hotbed for public discourse. Many issues did not find a solution until they first found an outlet on the web and galvanized the public for support or condemnation. The following ten stories, as selected by chinadaily.com.cn editors, reflect the year's most talked about and most acted upon. It is also an ode to the power of the netizens.

1. Could "hide and seek" lead to death?

Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009

Spotlight turned on detention center reform after 24-year-old detainee Li Qiaoming was found beaten to death by a fellow inmate in a Yunnan province facility after initial claims he died during a game of hide and seek in February.

Related stories:
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 Inmate beaten to death in 'hide-and-seek'
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 Spotlight turned on detention center reform
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 Ministry: Detention house overhaul on the cards
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 Prisons still in dire need of reform
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 Call to put inmates in 'neutral hands'                                    

              

2. Could self-defense be excessive?

Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009

The story of Deng Yujiao, a waitress who resisted the sexual advances of local officials in Badong, Hubei province, and killed one of them, has not ended with her acquittal by a court. It raises an essential, though hypothetical, question: Would the verdict have been the same were it not for the intervention of the sympathetic public?

Related stories:
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 Legal help group told to pack up
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 Can we leave the brave waitress alone
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 Waitress who killed official spared jail
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 Both scales of justice
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 Official-killer waitress walks free
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 Any verdict should be based on rule of law
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 Comment: Victim and heroine

        

3. Can you say things online about others that are not true?

Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009

Indecent photos and words hoaxed by Yan's ex-lover in a blog falsely proclaimed the woman is HIV positive in bid to get revenge - a case study into the debate about people's rights to privacy in cyberspace.

Related stories:
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 'HIV prostitute' blog hoax zooms on cyber-privacy
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 Jilted lover detained for slander, shifted to Hebei
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 False posting stirs privacy rights debate

              4. Can a doctor play games while on duty?

Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009

A 5-month-old baby died in hospital while the doctor was "stealing vegetables" in an online game and missed the opportunity to save the baby in Nanjing in November. The baby's parents have urged quick action for the reform of health care system to avoid future tragedies.

Related stories:
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 Baby dies while doctor plays game online
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 Surfing officials chided

              5. Can one say bad things about the government online?

Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009

Blogger Wang Shuai was tracked down across provinces and arrested after he posted words against the local government - something about the "illegal conduct" of the government. Is it the proper penalty for slander or is it a violation of a citizen's right to speech? Are people really free to post opinions in online communities?

Related stories:
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 Police 'sorry' blogger was detained
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 Wrongly-jailed blogger fights for justice
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 Netizen on trial for online slander

              

6. How dangerous could smoking expensive cigarettes be - to your lung and to your career?

Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009

China's discipline watchdog launched a joint campaign with the Chinese Association of Tobacco Control (CACT) to ban government officials from purchasing tobacco using public funds in June.

The move came after Internet users uploaded photos of Zhou Jiugeng showing a pack of Nanjing 95 Imperial cigarettes sitting in front of the former director of the real estate management bureau in Nanjing. The cigarettes cost about 150 yuan (about $22) per pack.

Related stories:
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 Discipline watchdog to ban tobacco purchase by public funds
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 Watchdog: no public money for cigarettes
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 Official outed by netizens gets 11 years
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 Jailed director plans novel on bureaucracy

      

7. Do you need a license to practice medicine?

Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009

Hospitals have a responsibility to provide opportunities for medical students to practice. But what if a patient is in critical condition?

Disorder and irresponsibility in hospitals worry the public as Xiong Zhuowei, a research fellow with the prestigious Beijing University First Hospital died of pulmonary failure after undergoing spinal surgery at the age of 49 November 3.
Related stories:
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 Medical interns 'unlicensed'
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 Husband fights for compensation
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 Husband's blog records anger at wife's death
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 Professor bids to determine cause of wife's hospital death

     

8. Do the rich - and their offsprings - have the right to drive recklessly?

Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009

Tan Zhuo, 25, was killed by a speeding Mitsubishi sports car in a downtown Hangzhou crosswalk in May. A forensic report by motor vehicle experts showed the car was traveling between 84 km and 101 km per hour when the accident happened.

The driver of the car, 20-year-old college student Hu Bin even joked with his friends after the accident.

Hu received a three-year jail sentence in July. Tan's parents got 1.13 million yuan ($164,800) compensation for his death, mental suffering and other fees.
Related stories:
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 Drunk man driving Porsche kills girl
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 Harsher penalties after teen's fatality
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 Driver case needs independent probe

  

9. Do the urban young have a chance for a decent place to live?

Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009

The 35-episode TV series has touched a raw nerve in its audience, who sympathize with the characters' moral dilemmas. The hit show depicts a large demographic of urban young dwellers whose dream for an apartment of their own is receding farther and farther away as housing prices skyrocket.

Related stories:
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 TV hit mirrors housing dilemma among urban youth
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 Home out of reach for many young Chinese
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 To buy or not to buy: Chinese home buyers' dilemma
Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009 Plug pulled on popular TV show

            

10. Is it a sports game or a scripted play?

Top 10 hot topics on Internet 2009

While China's football is still struggling to restore fans' confidence, the biggest ever match-fixing incident among China Super League (CSL) clubs was exposed, casting a shadow over the popular but struggling sport in China.