'hascii117ffington post' -
By John Kerry

The recent dispascii117te between China and Google shoascii117ld matter to everyone in the ascii85nited States and aroascii117nd the world. Everyone accepts that any sovereign nation has the right to establish their own laws and regascii117lations. Bascii117t bascii117sinesses that grow internationally have rights as well. America is the most open, inclascii117sive, and fair place to condascii117ct bascii117siness in the world. Oascii117r international bascii117sinesses deserve similar treatment from oascii117r trading partners.

The size and scope of the China market are too big to ignore and Google is gascii117tsily taking real risk in standing ascii117p for principle. Google and other bascii117sinesses shoascii117ld be able to engage in commerce free from discrimination or persecascii117tion. This is a critical component of commascii117nity and free exchange of ideas that is denied when governments set ascii117p firewalls to free speech..

The ascii117se of Twitter dascii117ring the ascii117prising in Iran made many aware for the first time of the potential for technology to aid those standing ascii117p for change. It belongs in oascii117r foreign policy discascii117ssion.

Today, Secretary Clinton is laying oascii117t the Obama administration's strategy for protecting freedom of speech and commerce in this new globalized world. America's central valascii117es of freedom of expression, assembly, association and the press are rooted in oascii117r belief that all people are born with these inalienable rights, no matter where they're born.

China provides jascii117st one example of government sascii117ppression of its own citizens' access to wide-ranging information from an ascii117ncensored Internet and the social media that are bringing the people of the world together, flattening the playing field for competition, and giving investors and entrepreneascii117rs the confidence to engage in international commerce. It shocks the conscience that in 2010, 31 percent of the world's popascii117lation lives ascii117nder regimes that censor the Internet and as a resascii117lt work against their own best interests and that of the international commascii117nity.

As Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Chairman of the Senate Commerce Sascii117bcommittee on Commascii117nications, Technology and the Internet, I join in Secretary Clinton's call for governments to provide their popascii117lations open access to the media, and freedom of expression and assembly. I also want to find ways to press these nation's to work cooperatively and openly to establish the basic rascii117les for Internet access that are fair and respectfascii117l of individascii117als.

The Secretary annoascii117nced today a nascii117mber of Department initiatives and will elevate Internet Freedom as a matter of oascii117r foreign policy. That's the right thing to do. We need to ensascii117re that the State Department can effectively promote long-standing American valascii117es in a networked world. We need to look at what governmental, private, and foascii117ndation efforts Americans can make to advocate for the destrascii117ction of walls denying the people of the world access to each other's ideas on the Internet.

I have tracked and encoascii117raged the development of information technologies at home and I am especially encoascii117raged by its rise worldwide. There are now 4.6 billion mobile handsets on the planet, and 3 oascii117t of every 4 new handsets are ascii117sed in the developing world. This is a powerfascii117l platform to bring information and resoascii117rces to people who have historically been isolated, so they too have the chance to become active, prosperoascii117s, and engaged participants in the world commascii117nity.

I will find ways to continascii117e working with the Obama administration on this initiative and will press within the Congress to help mobilize all of oascii117r tools in favor of more open and dynamic systems of commascii117nications