Los Angeles Times: China sends in search party to purge the Net


September 14 2002

Google, the Internet search engine recently blocked in China by the government, appeared to be up and running on Thursday. But anyone clicking into sensitive stories that include key words such as Falun Gong or Jiang Zemin is likely to hit a wall.

It is part of the routine crackdown on the media that happens in China whenever an important public event is on the horizon - in this case, the 16th Communist Party Congress opening on November 8.

The government's watchword is stability. It wants to create an atmosphere of political and social unity before the conclave. Recent newspaper coverage has been sanitised to accentuate positive news and de-emphasise negative stories about official corruption and the like.

Two weeks ago, President Jiang Zemin called on the media and other propaganda outlets to create a "sound atmosphere" for the congress by trumpeting the Communist Party's successes over the past 20 years of reform.

But China is no longer the same old totalitarian state. The Internet and a thriving market economy have transformed the country into a free-wheeling society much harder to control.

The popularity of the Internet has skyrocketed in recent years. An estimated 45 million Chinese now cruise the Web. Internet police struggle in vain to patrol chat rooms, play cat-and-mouse with users who try to get around government firewalls, and block material deemed harmful or otherwise critical of the state.

The crackdown on Google and Altavista.com, both popular search engines in China, triggered a flurry of denunciations from users, including businesses that rely on the Internet for information. "What crime has Google committed that it has to be banned? Alas, I'm speechless!" wrote one Netizen in Strong Country Forum, a chat room.

When it comes to the Internet, communist leaders want to have it both ways - to reap the financial benefits of the global information age but filter out the freedom that might threaten their hold on power. Beijing also apparently has banned the sale of books it thinks reflect badly on communist rule, past and present.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/09/13/1031608325198.html

 Yearly Archive   Printer Version


We welcome your comments and suggestions, please email:
feedback@clearwisdom.net


Related Articles

Article Review
New York Dafa Practitioners Hold Press Conference in Front of the United Nations to Initiate Campaign to Rescue Family Members Being Persecuted in China (Photos) [9/15/2002]
MP Mr. Rob Anders Supports Canadian Broadcast Standards Council Decision [9/14/2002]
How a One-Day Extension of My Business Trip to a Small Island Nation Resulted in Positive Coverage of Falun Dafa from Five Major Media [9/14/2002]
Indonesian Court Unreasonably Dismisses Practitioners' Lawsuit Against Chinese Embassy [9/14/2002]
European Parliament Resolution: "Extremely Concerned" with Human Rights in China [9/13/2002]
Report from the Canadian "Urgent: Rescue Family Members in China!" Group [9/12/2002]
Toronto Woman's Sister Gains Early Release from Chinese Labour Camp [9/12/2002]
Whose Fault Is It that Many Chinese People Have Lost their Livelihoods? [9/11/2002]
Why China Will Not Join The New "International Criminal Court" [9/11/2002]
The Australian Financial Review : The Great Firewall [9/10/2002]
Taipei Times Editorial: Jiang takes a leaf from Ceausescu [9/10/2002]
A Letter from Practitioners in China to the President of the United States: Mr. President, Please Help Maintain Justice for the World [9/10/2002]
AFP: Harvard student finds China blocks hundreds of websites [9/9/2002]
Xinhua News Agency and CCTV's "Focus Interview" Acknowledge that Falun Gong Practitioners Are Taught Not to Take Lives [9/9/2002]
Houston Chinese Consulate Spreads Lies; Public Library Refuses to Display Slanderous Brochure [9/9/2002]
The Icelandic Government Does Not Deny That the Blacklist Was Obtained from the Jiang Regime (Photo) [9/8/2002]
Madrid Declaration On Ethical Standards for Psychiatric Practice [9/7/2002]
Korean Students Recount their Nine Days of Fa-Rectification Activities in Mainland China [9/7/2002]
UK Foreign Ministry Raises Falun Gong Issue with the New Chinese Ambassador [9/7/2002]
The Japan Times: Psychiatric Abuse In China [9/6/2002]
More Articles...