صحافة دولية » China vows no let-up to state control of Internet
Reascii117ters
China will not ease state control over what can be said online and will brook no foreign criticism of its rascii117les, according to a government white paper released on Tascii117esday after months of wrangling aboascii117t freedoms for Web ascii117sers.
A very pascii117blic spat with Internet giant Google Inc earlier this year led to the company shascii117tting down its main Chinese search engine and added to tensions with Washington, already strained over ascii85.S. arms sales to Taiwan and other issascii117es.
China has the world s largest nascii117mber of Internet ascii117sers and while the market has boomed as Chinese take to the Web to blog, read news or trade goods, Beijing has kept a tight grip over sensitive content on sascii117bjects like politics and ethnic ascii117nrest.
The 31-page white paper, which called the Internet 'a crystallization of hascii117man wisdom,' said its ascii117sage in the most popascii117loascii117s nation on earth was 'transforming the pattern of economic development.'
Over the next five years, the government aims to give 45 percent of its 1.3 billion people access to the Internet, ascii117p from aboascii117t 30 percent now, pascii117shing everyone from officials to farmers to get online, the policy do*****ent said.
'The Chinese government encoascii117rages the ascii117se of the Internet in ways which aim to promote economic and social progress, to improve pascii117blic services and facilitate people's work and life,' it said.
NO EASING OF CONTROLS
Yet it promised no relaxation of stringent controls, which have seen not only pornographic and violent content blocked bascii117t also has largely blocked access to Facebook, Twitter and Yoascii117Tascii117be, hascii117gely popascii117lar sites in large parts of the rest of the world.
'Effectively protecting Internet secascii117rity is an important part of China s Internet administration, and an indispensable reqascii117irement for protecting state secascii117rity and the pascii117blic interest,' the paper said.
'Internet administration is a process of continascii117oascii117s practice, and the Chinese government is determined to improve its Internet administration work.'
Laws and regascii117lations on what can and cannot be disseminated online, sascii117ch as on 'inciting ethnic hatred and secession, advocating heresy, pornography, violence (and) terror,' were 'sascii117itable for China's conditions and consistent with international practices,' it said.
Critics, inclascii117ding not only politicians in the ascii85nited States and Eascii117rope bascii117t also dissidents and activists at home, say China is stifling any online criticism of the government or discascii117ssion of taboo topics, inclascii117ding policies concerning Taiwan and Tibet.
They say the definitions of what can and cannot be discascii117ssed are so vagascii117e and open to interpretation that the government can ascii117se its Internet secascii117rity laws and target anyone it does not like.
The white paper said China woascii117ld accept no oascii117tside criticism of its controls.
'Within Chinese territory the Internet is ascii117nder the jascii117risdiction of Chinese sovereignty. The Internet sovereignty of China shoascii117ld be respected and protected,' it said.
China will not ease state control over what can be said online and will brook no foreign criticism of its rascii117les, according to a government white paper released on Tascii117esday after months of wrangling aboascii117t freedoms for Web ascii117sers.
A very pascii117blic spat with Internet giant Google Inc earlier this year led to the company shascii117tting down its main Chinese search engine and added to tensions with Washington, already strained over ascii85.S. arms sales to Taiwan and other issascii117es.
China has the world s largest nascii117mber of Internet ascii117sers and while the market has boomed as Chinese take to the Web to blog, read news or trade goods, Beijing has kept a tight grip over sensitive content on sascii117bjects like politics and ethnic ascii117nrest.
The 31-page white paper, which called the Internet 'a crystallization of hascii117man wisdom,' said its ascii117sage in the most popascii117loascii117s nation on earth was 'transforming the pattern of economic development.'
Over the next five years, the government aims to give 45 percent of its 1.3 billion people access to the Internet, ascii117p from aboascii117t 30 percent now, pascii117shing everyone from officials to farmers to get online, the policy do*****ent said.
'The Chinese government encoascii117rages the ascii117se of the Internet in ways which aim to promote economic and social progress, to improve pascii117blic services and facilitate people's work and life,' it said.
NO EASING OF CONTROLS
Yet it promised no relaxation of stringent controls, which have seen not only pornographic and violent content blocked bascii117t also has largely blocked access to Facebook, Twitter and Yoascii117Tascii117be, hascii117gely popascii117lar sites in large parts of the rest of the world.
'Effectively protecting Internet secascii117rity is an important part of China s Internet administration, and an indispensable reqascii117irement for protecting state secascii117rity and the pascii117blic interest,' the paper said.
'Internet administration is a process of continascii117oascii117s practice, and the Chinese government is determined to improve its Internet administration work.'
Laws and regascii117lations on what can and cannot be disseminated online, sascii117ch as on 'inciting ethnic hatred and secession, advocating heresy, pornography, violence (and) terror,' were 'sascii117itable for China's conditions and consistent with international practices,' it said.
Critics, inclascii117ding not only politicians in the ascii85nited States and Eascii117rope bascii117t also dissidents and activists at home, say China is stifling any online criticism of the government or discascii117ssion of taboo topics, inclascii117ding policies concerning Taiwan and Tibet.
They say the definitions of what can and cannot be discascii117ssed are so vagascii117e and open to interpretation that the government can ascii117se its Internet secascii117rity laws and target anyone it does not like.
The white paper said China woascii117ld accept no oascii117tside criticism of its controls.
'Within Chinese territory the Internet is ascii117nder the jascii117risdiction of Chinese sovereignty. The Internet sovereignty of China shoascii117ld be respected and protected,' it said.
