CHONGQING, China – Everywhere you go in Chongqing, you can see traces of the complicated legacy of Bo Xilai, the former Communist party chief who ran this municipality of 30 million people until scandal derailed him. 

At one time destined for a top post in China’s highest echelon of power, the standing committee of the politburo of the Communist Party, Bo aggressively poured money into this municipality in pursuit of his populist agenda.

To drive through the windy roads that snake around this hilly metropolis is to see a city in constant transformation. Towers of low-income housing complexes dot the skyline. These social housing projects were meant to address a major national issue: the lack of affordable housing, and provided homes that cost just a few hundred dollars a year to rent. And Bo had gingko trees, said to be one of his favorites, planted across the city.

But these city improvements came at a cost: His heavy investment in capital construction projects forced the city to borrow so much money to pay for it that Chongqing owes $20 billion to the China Development Bank, according to a news report on Wednesday. The tree planting saddled the city with a $1.5 billion bill just for 2010 alone.  

The improvements weren’t the only controversial aspect of Bo’s reign over this important gateway city to the western half of China, and since his demise his critics have stepped out of the shadows to talk about the darker side of life in what had become the former leader’s personal fiefdom.

Told a Bo joke, got a year in a labor camp

In Chongqing, NBC News spoke with Fang Hong, a 51-year-old former forestry officer who made news earlier this week when he filed an appeal with a local court seeking compensation for what he alleged was an unfair sentence he served at a labor camp.

According to Fang, he was imprisoned for posting a two-line joke about Bo on his microblog that quickly went viral. Soon after, Fang said he was dragged in by police for questioning and later brought before a police tribunal where he was sentenced for “fabricating facts and disturbing public order.” 

Fang served his sentence at a labor camp where he said he was forced to assemble thousands of Christmas ornaments for export for one year.

Released earlier this year, Fang was emboldened by the criticism that has shrouded Bo following his high-profile falling out with his vice-mayor and former police chief, Wang Lijun, who famously sought refuge at the American embassy in Chengdu. That move by Wang sparked an international political scandal that now includes a murder mystery. Bo’s wife, Gu Kailai, is a murder suspect in the death of British businessman Neil Heywood; Bo has been officially disowned by the ruling Communist Party and has disappeared from public view.

Ed Flanagan / NBC News

A crowd gathers around Fang Hong in Chongqing to hear his story on Tuesday.

Boisterous debate on Bo
Fang agreed to do an interview with NBC News on an outside promenade with commanding views of Chongqing’s skyline and the mighty Yangtze River below. Fang spoke confidently, eager to tell his story about the deprivations he faced while interned at the labor camp.

Between the presence of a foreign camera crew and his loud denouncements of Bo Xilai, Fang quickly drew a crowd of onlookers.

The first indication that things were going to get contentious with the crowd was when one short, middle-aged man standing next to the camera started muttering under his breath as he listened to Fang. 

Taking jagged drags from his cigarette and nervously flicking ash between puffs, the man’s voice rose incrementally to voice his protestations of Fang’s opinion about Bo. Those near to the man shushed him as they strained to hear what Fang was saying, but after one particular statement, the man clearly had enough.

“That’s bull---! Bo Xilai has done so much for Chongqing!” bellowed the man as he waved his cigarette at Fang.

The crowd erupted into a loud, boisterous debate on Bo, prompting NBC News correspondent Ian Williams to wrap up the interview so that Fang could quickly leave with his lawyers.

But before he left, Fang feistily told the man what he thought of his opinion, triggering a shouting match. One of Fang’s lawyers and some of the crowd had to separate the pair.

David Lom / NBC News

Angry pro-Bo Xilai supporter voices his opinion to the crowd in Chongqing.

‘Since Bo Xilai took power I feel more secure'
Not everyone had negative feelings about the disgraced former party chief.

 One older woman in the crowd said:, “Before, I was worried to wear earrings because I was worried I’d get robbed, but since Bo Xilai I feel more secure seeing more police on the streets.”

Finally, a line of security guards rolled up and broke up the crowd. The guards were not forceful and they exchanged a few knowing nods with the throng of people who were loudly voicing their support for Bo.

Bo’s fall has clearly given his critics the opportunity they’ve long desired to voice their criticisms of him.

However, despite the accusations that paint Bo’s Chongqing was something akin to a modern-day Tammany Hall, the populism and perhaps most importantly, the pride he instilled in this mega-city suggest his popular legacy may last far longer than Communist Party officials would like.

As one driver told us, “Yeah, Bo might have been corrupt, but at least he did something for us – which is more than those corrupt officials who do nothing at all.”   

NBC News’ Bo Gu contributed to this report.

NEWS ANALYSIS

BEIJING – Wednesday’s conclusion of the National People’s Congress seemed to signal the end of Prime Minister Wen Jiaobao’s chapter in Chinese history.

It’s been widely reported though not yet confirmed that Wen—along with President Hu Jintao—is due to step down later this year. 

But little did we know Wen would take the opportunity to carry on a tradition enjoyed by his meddling predecessors: publicly shaking up the political field one last time and consequently sparking the biggest political scandal the nation has seen in years.

At his final press conference yesterday, the senior Chinese leader caused a stir when he criticized the leadership of Chongqing, one of the world’s largest municipalities, for its handling of the Wang Lijun incident, when the former deputy mayor of the western megacity allegedly tried to defect to the United States.

Shattered leadership dream
The comment was viewed as an ominous sign for the future of Chongqing’s Communist Party secretary, Bo Xilai -- Wang's former boss. Bo, a tough but charismatic crime-fighting politician rapidly became a national figure through self-promotion more often associated with Western politicians.

In particular, Bo’s ruthless crackdown on organized crime in Chongqing and his promotion of Communist rhetoric and values through vehicles like “red songs,” soon gave him a national following that seemed to position him for ascension to the ultimate seat of power: China’s nine-member standing committee, which will be selected later this year.

That dream shattered this morning.

Fall from grace: China leadership contender Bo Xilai sacked

China’s state news service, Xinhua, issued a terse statement announcing that Bo had been replaced by Zhang Dejiang – currently vice premier of China’s state council – as Chongqing Party chief.

The announcement of Bo’s fall from grace was a bombshell for China’s public, who rarely get such a clear look at the political battles Chinese leaders prefer to fight behind closed doors. Bo’s dismissal quickly became the top trending topic on China’s Twitter-like service, Sina Weibo, generating an astounding 4 million tweets in the hours following the announcement.

While some netizens were quick to mock the alleged corruption of a supposedly virtuous politician, others were quick to defend Bo, whose campaign against organized crime captured the imaginations of disenfranchised people nationwide.

“I just want to have a safe and stable life… Bo gave us hope,” wrote one person on Weibo.

Si Weijiang, a Chinese lawyer, countered,  “There's no need to be happy....Sometimes people do need what the leftists offer.”

It’s a dramatic political fall for the 62-year-old Bo, who just weeks before appeared to be on the cusp of becoming part of the Communist Party elite.  

Ng Han Guan/AP

Bo Xilai, is pictured at the recently complete National People's Congress. Bo was removed today from his position as Chongqing Party Secretary.

Rapid rise to top
The first public sign of faltering emerged when his vice-mayor Wang Lijun spent the night at the U.S. consulate back in February. It was widely believed that he was seeking refuge after coming under a government investigation for corruption.

Prior to becoming vice-mayor, Wang had spearheaded Bo’s signature political moment: a three-year campaign against criminal gangs in Chongqing that resulted in thousands of arrests and 13 executions. Dubbed the “Smash Black” campaign, the stunt was warmly received by Chongqing’s citizens, who had long bristled at the brazenness of organized crime in the region.

Despite the acclaim that came with their success in smashing organized crime in Chongqing, the two were not immune to criticism. Like so much here in China, the line between business and governance was blurred, and Wang soon found himself embroiled in an economic war between two local moguls.

When one of the Chongqing businessmen was arrested earlier this year, the man claimed he had an audio tape of Wang threatening him and warning him to leave the other mogul alone.

Wang was soon the focus of an investigation that threatened to bring an end to his political career. The very fact that the inquiry was allowed to happen – an act that can only occur with specific authorization from the highest levels of the Communist Party – may have signaled to Wang that his fate was sealed.

He snuck off to the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu, where both Chinese and embassy officials confirmed he spent the night before leaving on his own accord. However, officials on both sides have declined to comment on what was discussed between Wang and U.S. consulate officials that night.

Nonetheless, the slightest possibility that Wang might have revealed sensitive secrets about the Communist Party’s inner workings was not only a massive embarrassment to his boss Bo – who had handpicked Wang as his right-hand man years before – but also a crisis that made Bo a potential political liability with China’s greatest economic rival, the United States.

The incident also opened Bo up to criticism from the ruling elite’s more liberal factions who were outraged by his anti-crime campaign, the manner of which critics say demonstrated a blatant disregard for the criminal process.  In addition, his embrace of leftist policies in everyday life through “red songs,” text messages and a friendly approach to state-owned enterprise helped paint Bo as a polarizing threat to China’s liberalizing voices.

And it appears that Wen Jiabao may have shared those concerns.

Charismatic as he is controversial, Bo had been a wildcard with the potential to alter the dialogue in China’s influential nine-member standing committee, which sets economic and social policy for the nation.

Bo’s dismissal means that a potential voice of opposition to the economic and social map that Wen and Hu have laid the groundwork for over the past eight years has been removed.

Proving once again that in the world of Chinese politics, national stability reigns supreme.

NBC News’ Bo Gu and Isabella Zhong contributed research to this report.

A man walks past an advertisement of Apple's iPad 2 on Feb. 28 in Shanghai, China. Proview Electronics said it is now seeking to regain worldwide rights to the iPad name and is suing Apple Inc. for alleged fraud and unfair competition, hoping to have a 2009 sale of the trademark ruled void.

BEIJING – Apple’s recent market valuation of over $500 billion has invited countless comparisons, even inspiring a website that gleefully chronicles the places and things the tech giant is now valued more than.

Among other things, Apple is now worth more than the entire GDP of Poland, all the gold in the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of New York and America’s entire aircraft carrier fleet.

But is that enough to take the sting out of the $1.6 billion in compensation Proview Technology (Shenzhen) is rumored to be demanding in exchange for settling the thorny dispute over ownership of the iPad trademark in China? 

Last Wednesday, Guangdong’s Higher People’s Court heard an appeal from Apple after a lower court ruled in favor of Proview and declared them the actual owner of the iPad name in China. 

The significance of the case has not been lost in Chinese. Both local and foreign media were said to be staked outside the courtroom. In response to greater calls for transparency from the government, Wednesday’s legal proceedings before the three-judge panel were actually live-blogged by the court on a twitter-like service called Tencent Weibo.

The court now has almost 80,000 followers – but their decision has not been announced yet. According to Chinese law, the time limit for ruling on an appeal is three months. 

The stakes are high for everyone involved: Apple, Proview, the Chinese government and other Western investors.

High stakes
China is Apple’s second largest market behind the United States. It is also where most of its products are made –  including the highly anticipated iPad 3 which some tech-watchers are speculating may be released as soon as tomorrow. 
 
This court is typically the final word on legal proceedings in China, although Apple could still appeal to the Supreme People’s Court in Beijing. A loss would leave two undesirable options: An appeal to a Supreme Court that is not known for overturning many decisions of its lower court; or settling with the cash-strapped Proview. 

Alvin Chan / Reuters

Reporters wait outside the Higher People's Court of Guangdong in Guangzhou on Feb. 29 for Apple's appeal to the higher court in the Proview case.

For Proview, a company that at one time was an industry leader in the manufacturing of computer displays before falling on hard times, a win or an out-of-court settlement could set the stage for a dramatic revitalization of a company that now counts the Bank of China and China Banking Corp. as creditors. 

According to a Chinese-language report out last Friday, Proview’s consortium of creditors are said to be seeking $400 million from the cash-strapped company.

A settlement with Proview may be anathema to Apple; effectively inviting similar copycat suits against them in other jurisdictions, but the alternative of changing the name of a product they’ve already sold 32 million of worldwide is an equally bitter pill to swallow.

A warning for Western investors?
The need to legally resolve this issue is also uncomfortable for the Chinese government, which stands to lose politically regardless of who wins the case. 

Should Proview prevail and receive control of the trademark in China, it would stir up a certain crisis-of-faith among the foreign business community, whose concerns about intellectual property have become louder in recent years.

Sixty-six percent of respondents to the American Chamber of Commerce’s 2011 China Business Climate Survey said intellectual property rights protection is “very” or “critically” important to their business.

One U.S. businessman, who declined to be named for this piece, noted that while Apple’s spat with Proview is over the sale of a trademark and not the legal standing of the trademark itself, he would nevertheless be concerned about the strength of his company’s own trademarks in China should Apple lose. 

“Remember that line from the movie, ‘The Social Network,’ ‘You better lawyer up!’? You bet we have our lawyers looking closely now at all our company’s legal arrangements.”

It’s an example of corporate skepticism of the legal system here and a growing sentiment among the foreign business community of economic inequality between foreign and domestic companies.

That’s a sentiment that China’s ruling Communist Party wishes to avoid at all cost. In recent years the government has worked hard to improve intellectual property rights law in the country. They touted them as the Guangdong Higher People’s Court did on its Weibo feed of the court proceedings, inviting China’s web sphere to “witness the progress of intellectual property right protection in China.”

Ironically, the enforcement of those laws could potentially unravel the goodwill they were intended to build with foreign companies and investors.

Best for all? Out-of-court settlement
An Apple victory may mollify Western companies. It will also likely draw the ire of a more nationalist section of the population here that may view it as an example of China serving foreign interests before those of its own companies.

As unlikely as it may seem that a decision in Apple’s favor could lead to any mass resentment towards the government, in this sensitive time leading up to China’s leadership transition later this year, the Party is hyper-attuned to perceived public discontent.

So in the meantime, China’s government is quietly pushing through the court’s judges their dream solution to this dispute: out-of-court settlement. At the end of the hearing on Wednesday, the judge apparently gently urged Apple and Proview to consider a private settlement.

The financial motivations are there for both parties to come to the bargaining table, but Apple’s participation will either require a dramatic change of heart by the company which has refused to come to the table so far or a more pessimistic analysis of their chances in court.

Either way, you can bet the Apple CEO Tim Cook is thinking twice about his bold earlier statement last month that the company “has more money than it needs.”

BEIJING – These days it seems everyone has an opinion about what China’s economy needs to do to continue to prosper.

Yesterday was the World Bank’s turn to give its two cents as it released a new joint-report with the Chinese Development Research Center entitled, “China 2030: Building a Modern, Harmonious, and Creative High-Income Society.”

The ambitious report attempts to lay out a new development strategy for China that emphasizes a gradual transition to a market economy, serious economic and labor reform and an eventual shift from an economy powered by state-owned businesses to private enterprise.

It was that latter condition that appeared to be a step too far for Du Jianguo who created a stir during a press conference by World Bank President Robert Zoellick at the bank’s Beijing headquarters Tuesday.

Du, a self-described “independent scholar of politics and economics,” stood up as Zoellick was talking and began to shout slogans like, “state-owned industry should not be privatized!” and “this report from the World Bank is poison!” 

He also handed out an essay he had written, aptly titled, “WB [World Bank] Go home with your poison!”

Privatization debate
Du was pulled from the room by staff, but continued his protest outside where he claimed that the World Bank was corrupting China’s banking sector so much that it was beginning to resemble what he deemed a terrible role model: Wall Street.

“The World Bank wants Chinese banks to become like Wall Street,” said Du. “Do they want Chinese banks to turn into liars and parasites?”

Back inside the conference room, Zoellick acknowledged the intense debate that his bank’s report had generated in China between nationalists and economic liberalizers on the mainland, but defended it by saying that was “the point of any good research report.”

The debate comes at a sensitive time in China as it gears up for a leadership change later this year and a possible change in economic strategy under presumed future-President Xi Jinping.

The drive for greater economic liberalization and an increased focus on private enterprise by supporters of the study would come at the expense of expansive governmental support for state-owned enterprises that have become economic titans in China due to access to low-cost credit from state banks and protection from foreign competitors.

Proponents of the state-driven model argue that state-owned enterprises are a source of national strength and pride and should be protected.

Not so say others, who argue that private enterprise actually creates more jobs in China and should be nurtured to spur renewed growth.

Such proponents of economic liberalization will face a tough slog against men like Du, who are unabashed skeptics of the World Bank and made it a point to say so.

"We have no reason to accept their poison,” said Du later of the World Bank. “After they ruin China, they will ruin the whole world."

A pedestrian passes a branch of Chinese sportswear shop Qiaodan Sports in Shanghai on Thursday. Retired NBA superstar Michael Jordan announced that he has filed a lawsuit in China against Qiaodan Sports Company Limited over unauthorized use of his name.

BEIJING – Between Linsanity and Apple’s iPad trademark case, it seems like the only things on people’s minds in China right now are basketball and trademarks.

Leave it to “His Airness” to elevate that talk to another level.

Earlier today, NBA legend Michael Jordan issued a statement announcing that he has filed a lawsuit in Chinese court against Qiaodan Sports Company Ltd., charging the company with using his name and playing number without permission.

“A Chinese sports company has chosen to build a Chinese business off my Chinese name without my permission,” said Jordan in a video statement posted on a special website announcing the suit. "It pains me to see someone misrepresent my identity.”

“Qiaodan” is a transliteration of the name Jordan has gone by in China since he and the NBA took China by storm in the ‘80s and ‘90s, transforming the mainland into a nation of basketball diehards.

“It is deeply disappointing to see a company build a business off my Chinese name without my permission, use the number 23 and even attempt to use the names of my children,” Jordan said, referring to Qiaodan’s recent bid to trademark the name of his children in China. He continued by saying, “I am taking this action to preserve ownership of my name and my brand.”

Jordan’s announcement is a blow to Qiaodan, a Chinese sportswear and footwear manufacturer that has its roots in the 1980s but found tremendous financial success when it changed its name to Jordan’s Chinese moniker in 2000.

Company: Lots of people named 'Jordan'
Since that time, Qiaodan has borrowed heavily from the Jordan mystique to drive sales in China. His iconic number 23 is on much of their sportswear and advertisements and equipment often sport a logo which greatly resembles Nike’s iconic “Jumpman” logo, which accompanies virtually all of Jordan’s branded gear.

Still, the company denies any connection to the NBA legend and argues any resemblance is coincidental.

Speaking to Chinese media today, a spokesman for the company brazenly claimed, “There is no connection, 23 is just a number like $23 or $230 dollars… I don’t think there is a problem at all here.”

He continued by saying Qiaodan goes to great lengths to advertise that the company was a “China national brand” and that there was no need to tell every customer that they are not associated with Jordan since their brand is already unique to the mainland.

Bob Leverone / AP

Charlotte Bobcats owner Michael Jordan smiles as he announces a cash donation to the Second Harvest Food Bank on Feb. 20 in Charlotte, N.C.

“Not everyone will think this is misleading,” said the spokesman. “There are so many Jordans besides the basketball player – there are many other celebrities both in the U.S. and worldwide called Jordan.”

A bold claim by Qiaodan, but one that is seemingly refuted by a 2009 survey conducted by a Shanghai marketing company. They found that 90 percent of 400 young people polled in China’s small cities believed Qiaodan Sports was Michael Jordan’s own brand.

“We live in a competitive marketplace, and Chinese consumers, like anyone else, have a huge amount of choice when it comes to buying clothing, shoes and other merchandise,” said Jordan, “I think they deserve to know what they are buying.”

It’s a sentiment echoed by Nike, who markets the “Jordan” brand in China under its English name, which the Oregon-based company registered in China in 1993. It failed, though, to register the Chinese name, allowing Qiaodan to take it in 1998. Attempts by Nike to legally halt Qiaodan from selling under that name were blocked by the Chinese government’s state trademark office 

Subsequently, one can walk into a sports store here in China and often find Nike’s official Jordan line of sportswear on sale just a few racks down from Qiaodan’s brand.

Why now?
In lieu of Nike’s previous experience in attempting to protect its trademark and the fact that Jordan himself has waited 11 years to make his first high profile attempt to stop Qiaodan, the question is: “Why now?”

The answer to that may be found in two recent legal decisions involving two other NBA players.

Stan Abrams of the invaluable China legal and business blog, China Hearsay, wrote about two cases involving Chinese basketball stars – Yi Jianlian and Yao Ming – and the parallels between their two trademark cases and the suit Jordan is bringing against Qiaodan.

In the Yi Jianlian case, a company unaffiliated with the player registered for the trademark of his name in 2005. Yi filed a complaint with the Chinese Trademark Review and Adjudication Board and won in 2009; he also won a subsequent appeal in 2010.

Yao Ming faced a similar issue when he filed suit and won against another Chinese sporting goods company, Wuhan Yunhe, which had attempted to trademark a name associated with the former NBA superstar.

In both cases, lawyers for the players cited Article 31 of Chinese Trademark Law which states: "An application for the registration of a trademark shall not create any prejudice to the prior right of another person, nor unfair means be used to pre-emptively register the trademark of some reputation another person has used.”

Perhaps seeing the trademark law now being more stringently enforced in cases closely paralleling his own, and already knowing the terrific economic potential for himself and his brand in China, Jordan must have seen this as the time to make a definitive move against Qiaodan.

Considering Nike’s failed injunction and the fact that Qiaodan is a purely homegrown Chinese company – a fact that should not be underestimated - Qiaodan must have appeared frustratingly untouchable to Jordan, who touched on fairness in his statement.

“When I was a former player, I played within the rules, I played off of honesty,” said Jordan. “Today, even in business, honesty is something that I truly, truly hold as a high value, and I stay within the guidelines.”

While the lawsuit is primarily for control of his Chinese name in China, Jordan has pledged that any money earned in the lawsuit will be “invested in growing the sport in China.”

“No one should lose control of their own name; China recognizes that for everyone. It’s not about the money; it’s about principle—protecting my identity and my name.”  

One person who should take heed of Jordan’s words? Current NBA phenom, Jeremy Lin, whose Chinese name was registered by a Chinese company back in 2010.

Watch Jordan's video statement

Sina Weibo (Sun Breaking News)

This unconfirmed group of photos reportedly show villagers from the Zhejiang village of Panhe protesting what they claim are illegal land grabs by local officials.

BEIJING – If you thought that Guangdong province’s peaceful handling of the Wukan uprising last year would become the precedent for managing future mass protests in China, guess again.

Early Tuesday morning, the Foreign Correspondents Club of China notified journalists that three employees of European news agencies had been attacked in two separate incidents this past week while attempting to cover a land dispute story in eastern China.

The three were attempting to cover protests in the village of Panhe in eastern Zhejiang province. The first attack happened on February 15, when a Dutch journalist was accosted by a group of what appeared to be plainclothes police after interviewing villagers in Panhe.

The reporter was beaten and had his notebook and camera memory card confiscated.

The next day, a French reporter was attempting to drive to Panhe with his Chinese assistant when another car collided into theirs. The reporter described the incident as “obviously 100 percent intentional.”

After the journalist's vehicle was rammed, a group of men approached the car, dragged his Chinese assistant out and assaulted him.

When they finished beating the assistant, the men walked to the side of the road and smoked cigarettes until a police car arrived.

No arrests were made, but the local Wenzhou government apologized for the incident, according to the French journalist

Chinese police beat-up journalists

To be sure, press restrictions in China have been relaxed considerably in recent years, but since last year’s anonymous calls for a “Jasmine Revolution,” local municipal and provincial governments appear especially sensitive to negative press and foreign reporting on so-called "mass incidents." 

It’s unclear whether the Panhe attacks represent a government-driven reversal in strategy for dealing with foreign press coverage of mass incidents. It is nevertheless a stark reminder of the dangers of reporting local disturbances despite the optimism inspired by the peaceful resolution of the Wukan rebellion.

Rebellious Chinese village takes baby steps toward democracy

Rebellious Chinese village under siege by police

Customers test out Apple iPads in the company's flagship store in Beijing's Sanlitun area on Wednesday. A Chinese tech firm, Proview claims it still owns the iPad trademark In China and will seek a ban on exports of Apple Inc's computer tablets from China, which could deal a blow to the U.S. technology giant's sales worldwide.

BEIJING – “This is the user manual and spec sheets for the IPAD,” said Ma Dongxiao, a patent lawyer in Beijing. In his hands he held a simple black and white pamphlet that laid out the technical aspects of his client’s product.

Absent from the front page was the familiar Apple logo we have come to expect. Rather, he held just a simple description in English for a boxy wireless device shaped like an old TV that was ponderously dubbed a “Professional Color LCD Monitor.”

Simple as the device might appear, it is the linchpin in a new phase of Shenzhen-based tech company Proview’s latest attack on Apple: A restraining order filed this month in a Shanghai court demanding Apple cease using the iPad name in China.

Just days after the euphoria of a $500 stock valuation, Apple has been dealt a series of significant legal blows in China that casts doubt on the legality of the tech giant’s control of the iPad trademark here on the mainland.

And the worst might be yet to come.

The legal issue at hand for Apple is simple enough: Does the Cupertino-based company own the “iPad” trademark in China? Or does it belong to Proview (Shenzhen), a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Proview International Holdings Ltd. – at one time one of the largest manufacturers of computer displays in the world.

NBC/ITN

The cover of Shenzhen-based tech company Proview's owner's manual for their IPAD device, called a "Professional Color LCD Monitor."

Murky trademark deal
Proview began trademarking the term, “IPAD,” in China and other countries back in 2000. The company coined the name for a handheld device it claims was the actual start of what later would be dubbed “tablet computing.”

The project never came to fruition, though, and the name sat unused until 2009 – a year before the debut of the iPad we know today. That’s when Apple allegedly swooped in and paid a Proview subsidiary in Taiwan $55,000 for the trademark rights in ten countries, including they claim, China.

Not so, says Proview in Shenzhen, which argued that it – not the subsidiary in Taiwan – had registered the iPad name in China and thus controlled its trademark on the mainland.

In 2010, Proview took Apple to court in Shenzhen and won a decision last December that ruled Apple had incorrectly purchased the China trademark from the Taiwan-based subsidiary, resulting in a legally non-binding agreement. 

An appeal filed last month by Apple in a Guangdong provincial court was similarly rejected, paving the way for Proview to file a slew of trademark violation complaints across China with local Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureaus. In 20 cities across four provinces, these departments began enforcing the decision, confiscating iPads from sellers and exposing Apple to fines up to five times the profit from iPad sales.

Online retailers are also taking note of the complaints, with Amazon China and Suning.com, a Chinese e-commerce site, also pulling iPads off their websites.

Undeterred, Apple has appealed the ruling to a higher Guangdong court. Carolyn Wu, a spokesman for Apple in China, told the Wall Street Journal Tuesday, “We bought Proview’s world-wide rights to the iPad trademark in 10 different countries several years ago… Proview refuses to honor their agreement with Apple in China.”

More suits to come
Talking about the upcoming Shanghai suit for which Ma says arguments will begin next week, Chinese legal experts are already arguing that Apple faces long odds of winning. As one lawyer put it, Apple’s negotiating with Proview’s Taiwanese subsidiary is “like negotiating with a son and expecting the father to go along with what was agreed upon.”

NBC/ITN

The user manual for Proview's  IPAD shows off its boxy wireless device shaped like an old TV. Proview claims it has the rights to the trademark "IPAD" in China , locking it in a legal battle with U.S.-based tech giant Apple.

With Proview’s ownership of the iPad trademark already established in the Shenzhen courts, it seems doubtful that the Shanghai court will side in favor of Apple and effectively overturn the appeals court in Guangdong.

Late last year, China became Apple’s second largest market after the United States. A decision against Apple that results in the ceasing of mainland iPad sales would be catastrophic for the company, which reportedly sold 15.43 million iPads in the last quarter of 2011 alone.

Even more troubling is another complaint Proview plans to file by the end of this month to China’s customs authorities that would ban the export and import of the new iPad 3. Almost all of the 30 million iPads sold last year are assembled outside the U.S., mostly in China. A successful injunction against Apple on exports of its iPad 3 would effectively make its rumored early March rollout date a pipe dream, putting a significant dent in the company’s profits.

Payday ahead for Proview?
All of these lawsuits, injunctions and complaints beg the question, what is Proview’s end game?

After all, Proview can seemingly look ahead confidently to the upcoming customs complaint and Shanghai lawsuit knowing that the Chinese courts have ruled in their favor in regards to ownership of the iPad trademark. Barring some new, compelling evidence from Apple, it will be extremely difficult for Apple to overturn two decisions in favor of Proview.

Bobby Yip / Reuters

A man walks on a bridge in front of the derelict office of Proview Technology in China's southern city of Shenzhen on Wednesday.

So what does Proview want?

The lawyer, Ma, played coy in answering that question and simply said he hoped that the two parties would be able to settle their disputes out of court. Indeed, a settlement between Apple and Proview is increasingly looking like an expensive proposition for the American tech company and a financial windfall for the cash-strapped Proview.

However, rumors of Proview seeking a $1.6 billion dollar payout may seem almost reasonable to Apple if Proview’s multiple suits successfully pass through Chinese courts and an embargo on shipments of iPad 3s is enacted. Although, it’s important to remember that Apple reportedly has $97.6 billion in cash reserves, so a $1.6 billion payout wouldn’t exactly break their bank.

Despite the long legal odds against Apple, and Proview seemingly sitting in the driver’s seat, the chances of such a doomsday scenario occurring seem distant as both sides appear even more poised for a settlement.

After all, while China’s expansive, albeit limitedly enforced, intellectual property laws currently favor Proview, it seems doubtful that a Chinese ruling blocking the shipment of iPad to countries where Apple legally owns the trademark would hold up in a complaint among the bodies that regulate international trade.

Furthermore, during these trying economic times globally, it would simply be foolhardy for China’s Customs Bureau – and by extension, the ruling Communist Party – to invite the swift international condemnation that would inevitably follow any blocking of Apple exports.

Ultimately, as Stan Abrams of the China Hearsay blog put it, Proview’s best strategy would seemingly be to wreak enough legal havoc for Apple so that the disruption of exports, while not an inevitability, would be a big enough threat to bring them to the settlement table.

Whatever decisions are made in the next few weeks, Apple will surely pay dearly for its first significant blunder since its entry into the China market.

BEIJING – As the Chinese diaspora rings in the New Year around the world this week, many are asking what 2012 and the Year of the Dragon has in store for China, its people, its economy and its relationship with the rest of the world.

For the answer to these questions and countless others that define our everyday lives, mainlanders often turn to their local feng shui expert for answers.

Slideshow: Chinese New Year celebrations around the world

Feng Li / Getty Images

Millions around the world celebrate the Lunar New Year, which begins Monday and welcomes the Year of the Dragon.

Launch slideshow

Feng shui, the Chinese art of balancing yin and yang to create harmonious surroundings, has experienced something of a revival here since being squelched during the Cultural Revolution. While it has become something of a novelty for most, there are still many Chinese who take predictions from feng shui experts seriously, elevating the art of feng shui into a highly lucrative profession for experts who provide their expertise to superstitious clients.

Just how profitable? Some top consultants are said to make tens of thousands of dollars per consultation.

But for those of you who do not have thousands in spare cash to hire a top feng shui expert, we here at Behind the Wall consulted Beijing-based feng shui master, Chen Shuaifu, to get his thoughts and predictions for 2012.

Good year for Dragons, Rats, Monkey and Roosters
Chen, 59, has been in the industry for years and is currently chairman of the Chinese Feng Shui Association, a trade group that has between 50,000-60,000 members.

Chen predicts that this will be a prosperous year for those born in the year of the Dragon (those born in 1940, ’64, ’88,’ ’12), Rat (’36, 60,’84,’08), Monkey (’32, ’56, ’80, ’04) and Rooster (’33, ’57, ’81, ’05). Of these zodiac animals, those born in the year of the Rat are poised to have particularly good luck in 2012.

As snakes grow up, they get longer and eventually turn into dragons, so Chen also believes that those born in the year of the Snake (’29, ’53, ’77, ’01) also stand to benefit from this being a Dragon year.

That prediction probably bodes well for politician Xi Jinping, who was born in 1953 and is widely expected to be elevated to the top Communist Party post in 2012.

Conversely, those born in the year of the Dog (’34, ’58, ’82, ’06) seem poised for a bad 2012 and Chen strongly urged Dogs to postpone major life decisions like weddings until next year when their luck should improve. Whatever choices Dogs of the world make in 2012, Chen especially urges them to think twice about marrying a Dragon this year.

For everyone else, 2012 is an auspicious year to get married.

Watch out for real estate deals
Besides a zodiac animal, every year also has an element assigned to it as well. This year’s element, water, paired with the Dragon is said to be an auspicious combination that should allow prosperity to flow freely.

To that end, Chen believes that as that positive energy flows through the start of 2012, there should be a rebound in China’s export trade. Though he echoed the concern of senior Chinese leadership – most noticeably Premier Wen Jiabao – that inflation and price instability could creep back, Chen predicted it would not be the issue it was in 2011.

Chen’s confidence, though, ends with Chinese real estate. On this issue, it would seem that the zodiac’s message echoes many financial institutions in predicting that this will be a tough year for the already deflating mainland housing market. Chen urges people to avoid real estate decisions at all costs and instead invest in commodities like gold, building materials and agriculture food products.

In regards to the Sino-U.S. relationship, Chen sees good momentum that should lead to increased mutual cooperation and development.

Feng shui experts also dabble in physiognomy, the study of man’s outer features to determine their personality or character and Chen is no exception. In evaluating President Barack Obama’s first term, Chen pounces on his trim figure, particularly his thin jawline. Chen believes that Obama’s weak-looking chin fuels the perception that he is weak and thus prone to challenges by his opponents.

However, despite Chen’s poor assessment of Obama’s facial features, it’s not all bad for the president. The feng shui master’s final prediction for the year of the Dragon: Obama in 2012.

On behalf of all us at Behind the Wall, a very happy Chinese New Year and best wishes for a prosperous Year of the Dragon.

NBC News’ Bo Gu and Eric Baculinao contributed to this report.

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Volunteers in Chongqing work to rescue over 1,100 dogs that were destined for slaughter.

BEIJING – Call it a Chinese New Year miracle. Earlier this week more than 1,100 dogs destined for the slaughterhouse in Chongqing were saved from an ignoble ending by a pet-loving Good Samaritan.

The China Daily reported that 1,137 dogs were rescued on Monday from the back of a flatbed truck by a 40-year old blogger and volunteer at the Chongqing Small Animal Protection Association (CSAPA) surnamed Peng. Peng found the dogs crammed into tight cages that were stacked high atop each other. 

The dogs, who had been condemned to slaughter for food, were instead rescued and taken by CSAPA volunteers to an abandoned pig farm where they were given food, water and medical treatment.

In such cramped quarters, the dogs were reported to have been in poor health and some were found already dead inside their cages. By Thursday 16 dogs had died from injury or distemper while another 30 dogs had been sent to a veterinarian hospital in Chongqing for treatment.

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The rescued dogs soon became a sensation in this central Chinese metropolis and hundreds of volunteers and donations began flooding in. One man donated nearly 1,000 square feet of warehouse space to house the dogs for free while there is now enough food to feed the dogs for the next 20-30 days.

But the biggest immediate concern right now is finding enough professional volunteers to help take care of the dogs during the busy Chinese New Year holiday when most people empty out of the big cities and head back to their hometowns.

Long term, many people are wondering how they will find homes for so many dogs. The CSAPA predicts about 20 percent of the dogs will eventually be adopted, but the majority of them will likely never be claimed. The association is now considering whether to solicit donations to build dog houses for the remaining animals.

China has seen a rash of similar animal rescues in recent years. In April of last year, animal lovers banded together and raised $17,960 to pay a truck owner who was holding 580 dogs in cages.

China currently has no animal cruelty laws – a notion made problematic by the still large agrarian population – but as of October of last year, regulations issued by the Ministry of Agriculture require dogs and cats to be quarantined before being shipped around China.

More photos from the rescue can be seen here.

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Yao Ming attends a Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference meeting on January 13th, 2012.

BEIJING – That’s Comrade Yao to you.

Nearly six months after Yao Ming formally retired from basketball, the 7-foot-6, eight-time NBA All-Star has been anything but idle. In that time, Yao has started college, spearheaded a campaign to end shark-finning, and even started his own vineyard.  

But last week he added a new title: Standing committee member of Shanghai’s Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

At 31, Yao is the youngest member of the 142 member committee charged with advising the Communist Party on issues that affect the public interest.

Zhang Chi, a spokesman for Yao Ming told the China Daily that despite taking the position, Yao had no political aspirations beyond pushing policies related to sports and charity, saying, “Yao wants to use his influence to do good deeds for society, but not to seek a political position.”

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Judging by what he saw on the first few days on the job, who can blame him?

On Sunday, Yao took his seat on the committee to much fanfare. Unfortunately for the other members there, the assembled media stuck around long enough to catch – and publish – what many of these consultative meetings often look like: a snooze-fest.

With arms-folded and intent gaze, Yao is seen in one picture listening attentively while his fellow committee members doze off.

The picture was picked up on by China’s microblogging sphere and soon went viral. Some netizens pointedly suggested that the photos may have come during a break in the committee hearings, but most people responded with amusement to the scene they’ve come to expect from such events.

“Poor Yao, he probably regrets being that tall and not being able to sleep!” wrote one commentator on China’s twitter-like service, Weibo.

“Yao Ming is still new to meetings like this,” wrote another before continuing, “He’ll be just like the rest of them soon enough.”

Alex Wong / Getty Images

Chinese dissident writer Yu Jie speaks to the media during a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.on Wednesday.

BEIJING – Last week Chinese dissident author Yu Jie fled to the United States to avoid what he described as further “inhumane treatment” by the government.

Now Yu, 38, is speaking out about his experience in detention during a sensitive time in China’s recent human rights history: the 2010 awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to his friend and fellow dissident, Liu Xiaobo.

Yu is a best-selling author who began producing literary works at age 13 and eventually rose to become vice president of the Independent Chinese PEN Center from 2005-2007. A devout Christian, Yu visited President George W. Bush in 2006 and was acknowledged for his work on behalf of underground Christian and Roman Catholic house church practitioners in China who worship in private out of fear or imprisonment by the authorities.

Besides religious freedom, Yu has also often publicly criticized the Communist party on other issues and was one of 10 prominent Chinese social activists whom we profiled in 2010 ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize.

During his years of activism, Yu was frequently detained for his writing – most notably, his 2010 book “China’s Best Actor: Wen Jiabao,” which was published in Hong Kong and took a negative view of the mainland’s prime minister. The book quickly drew the ire of officials and led to his temporary home detention in Beijing.

In October 2010, Yu was placed under house arrest again five days after Liu Xiaobo’s Nobel Prize win was announced. This time, his computer, phone and other communication devices were confiscated.

At a press conference Wednesday in Washington, Yu described the tight security around his house at the time as being “like a dragnet.” He explained: “Four plainclothes policemen watched the entrance to my home 24 hours a day, even pressing a table against the main door and installing six cameras and infrared detectors at the front and back of my house.”

In the weeks and days leading up to the Nobel Prize ceremony in Oslo, state security officers worked to quietly roundup social activists and dissidents who could potentially embarrass China. Yu was detained on Dec. 9, 2010, one day before the official Nobel ceremony in Oslo.   

The final moments after Yu was hauled from his home to a waiting police car were brutal, he says.  “Over a dozen plainclothes officers and several cars were waiting there,” Yu recalled at the press conference in D.C. “Immediately, two burly men charged at me, slapping the glasses from my face and covering my head with a black hood, and then forcing me into the back of a car.”

Yu was driven to an undisclosed location, where he says he was stripped naked and made to kneel while officers took turns delivering blows to his head and body and stomping him when he was on the ground.

“They forced me to kneel and slapped me over a hundred times in the face,” said Yu. “They even forced me to slap myself. They would be satisfied only when they heard the slapping sound, and laughed madly.”

All the while, police hurled verbal abuse at Yu and continually called him a traitor for writing articles attacking the Communist Party. Yu also recalled police officers taking photos of him naked and periodically threatening to post them on the Internet to humiliate him.

When Yu finally collapsed unconscious, police took him to a hospital and were said to have told hospital staff that he was epileptic. He was eventually released after he promised state security that he would not talk to foreign journalists about his detention.

Government officials have not publicly commented on Yu’s account of events.

An ‘exile at heart’
Yu and his wife and young son were allowed to leave China last week, bringing to an end his near decade-long ban from publishing.

In a telephone interview with Reuters after his arrival last Friday, Yu did not say whether he formally sought asylum in the United States for himself or his family. He had visited the U.S. many times before and said authorities had warned him to keep quiet ahead of this latest trip.  

For their part, the U.S. State Department denied having an active role in bringing Yu here. In answer to a question about Yu’s arrival in country during a regular press briefing last week, the State Department responded: “We are aware of reports of Mr. Yu’s arrival to the United States. We have not had any contact with Chinese officials about his reported arrival.”

Still, if Yu had been warned by the Chinese about being outspoken on his arrival here, he seems to have ignored them. During his prepared remarks in Washington. Yu looked back on what he sees as a deteriorating environment of free speech in China: 

“During the Jiang Zemin era [1989-2002], I had been able to publish some of my works in China – there was still a certain space for free speech in China. After Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao took power in 2004, I was totally blocked. Since that time, no media in mainland China would print a single word by me, and articles by others which mentioned my name would be deleted. Though I was physically in China, I became an “exile at heart” and a “non-existent person” in the public space.”

The Chinese government’s refusal to publish anything about Yu Jie in state publications has manifested itself in the seeming indifference to his release by the general public. On Sina Weibo, China’s Twitter-like service, there were posts about Yu, underscoring again the effectiveness of China’s propaganda and censoring mechanisms.

Censoring discussion of Yu Jie’s next work though may prove to be more problematic: Yu is soon planning to release a biography about Liu Xiaobo that has been authorized by Liu’s wife.

Afp Photo / AFP - Getty Images

Residents of Wukan, a fishing village in the southern province of Guangdong march to demand the government take action over illegal land grabs and the death in custody of a local leader on Thursday. Click on the photo to see more images from the village.

BEIJING – As the Chinese village of Wukan entered its fifth day besieged by a police cordon cutting off food and water from entering the village, reports from inside the cordon suggest villagers have continued to resist government overtures to end their protest.

What’s going on outside the cordon, though, is a very different story.

Even as Chinese and foreign press have begun sneaking around the security cordon into town – likely assuring at least temporarily that no draconian, military-style raid on the villagers occurs – Chinese state media have started to create an alternative and unverifiable storyline about what triggered the hostilities.

‘Official’ version of events
The China Media Project at Hong Kong University noted Thursday that late last night, the state-run China News Service reported on a press conference that allegedly confirmed that “preliminary investigations have ruled out external force as the cause of death” in the case of Xue Jinbo.

Xue, a village representative who was detained along with several other local leaders by police last Friday during a raid on Wukan, died in custody – alleged of a heart attack.

But his family was permitted to see the body and reported seeing fractures and bruising all over his body. And they were not permitted to take his remains home for burial.

However, the China News Service report said the town’s medical expert had shared photographic evidence of Xue’s body which refuted the family’s accusations that police beatings caused his death. The reporter was allegedly not permitted copies of the photos for publication.

Xue’s death and its suspicious circumstances sparked the mass protests in Wukan that eventually drove village officials and police out of the area earlier this week.

Another report from the China News Service said various Wukan village officials had been detained for discipline violations.

Afp Photo / AFP - Getty Images

Residents prepare for the funeral of Xue Jinbo, a local leader who died in police custody, in the fishing village of Wukan in the southern province of Guangdong on Thursday.

That no other local Chinese media – and certainly no foreign press – had reported on the press conference suggests that local government officials are engaging in what the China Media Project dubbed, “public opinion channeling” tactics.

In layman’s terms: they are dictating the narrative by creating only one plausible sequence of events.

The two separate reports are intended to get the following results:
1) Absolve local police of brutality and murder accusations – eliminating at least one of the reasons for unrest in Wukan.
2) “Detaining” – as opposed to arresting – Wukan’s senior officials demonstrate that the government is being pro-active against corruption, without officially conceding guilt. And it obfuscates the other central reason behind the villagers’ anger – illegal land seizures.

PHOTO BLOG: Chinese villagers defy government in standoff over land rights

Scapegoat a few
Another piece of the local government’s strategy to quell the unrest has emerged: scapegoat a few to spare the majority.

The Shanwei County government Thursday named two village leaders it claims are ringleaders behind the revolt and vowed harsh punishments for them and other protest leaders.

Wu Zili, the acting mayor of Shanwei County, accused two village leaders, Lin Zulian and Yang Semao, of actively spreading rumors and encouraging villagers to build barricades around the city. The mayor gravely warned that “the authorities will firmly crack down on anyone who organizes and incites the villagers,” according to Telegraph reporter Malcolm Moore.    
 
For longtime China watchers, the combination of the earlier local media reports, news that the government is attempting to negotiate a peaceful end to the standoff and Mayor Wu’s threat toward the supposed ringleaders are clear signals that the government is eager to bring an end to the conflict by providing an exit plan for the majority of Wukan’s citizens.

However, taking that path will come with a price: selling out the people the government has branded as ringleaders of the rebellion.

For at least one person, this is unacceptable. “Everything they said at the press conference [about Lin and Yang] is a lie!” said one villager NBC News reached by phone Thursday afternoon. “We simply elected those two to be our representatives.”

Villagers’ side of the story: Beijing will come to the rescue
Villagers in Wukan Thursday were actively working the phones, talking to the media who called in or slipped into town. However, as the world’s attention has started to focus on the events in Guangdong, they appeared anxious to push their own storyline, which is full of condemnation for corrupt local officials and deep-rooted respect for the central government, which they seem confident will come to their rescue.

“We don’t want any foreign press here! We expect the central government to come here and rescue us,” said another villager by phone, “We have great leaders in [President] Hu Jintao and [Prime Minister] Wen Jiabao!”

However, that sentiment is not shared by all. As one Wukan native told NBC, “If the press was not here, the police would come into the village and harass us.”

National implications
Whatever tact the local government takes in Wukan, the results could have serious implications for one man in particular: Wang Yang, the Communist Party chief of Guangdong Province.

With China poised to complete a rare leadership change next year, Wang had in recent years been positioning himself to compete for a promotion to the Politburo Standing Committee, which serves effectively as the nation’s top political body.

Having championed a “Happy Guangdong” campaign that he claimed would focus on improving the living standards in the province, Wang has instead found himself dealing with labor protests that have coincided with the economic slowdown in China. Public anger over rising inflation and fewer jobs has led to factory strikes and violence throughout Guangdong, which has been dubbed “The Workshop of the World.”

Now with open rebellion in what was once proudly referred to as a “model village,” Wang finds himself struggling to peacefully and definitively end the uprising – before it kills his chances of being elevated to the standing committee.

Until that elusive win-win resolution appears, expect the siege of Wukan to continue.

NBC News Producer Bo Gu contributed to this report.

Related link: Rebellious Chinese village under siege by police