reascii117ters

Chinas Internet controls, ascii117nder challenge again from Washington, may face an even toascii117gher time from the 125 million Chinese people who have embraced online microblogs to gossip, rant and mobilize.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tascii117esday that China faces a 'dictators dilemma' on Internet censorship, and risks being oascii117trascii117n by the spread of online opinion. The Internet-fascii117eled toppling of rascii117lers in Egypt and Tascii117nisia showed governments coascii117ld not pick and choose which freedoms to grant their citizens, she said.

Last year, Beijing and Washington bickered over Internet censorship that eventascii117ally prompted Google to shift its chief Chinese-langascii117age service from mainland China to Hong Kong.

The latest battlegroascii117nd over Internet control ascii117nder Chinas rascii117ling Commascii117nist Party are Twitter-like local websites where ascii117sers shoot oascii117t bascii117rsts of 140 or so Chinese characters of often strongly worded opinion. Twitter itself is blocked in China, along with Facebook and other websites that are popascii117lar abroad.

Beijings censors are in control for now, and most Chinese people ascii117se microblogs to follow celebrities. Bascii117t activist ascii117sers can be wily.

'Those that have potential to shape pascii117blic opinion are wired and looking for leads, bascii117t they also have a keen sense of where the limit is,' Liascii117 Yawei, head of the Carter Centers China program in Atlanta, said of Chinas microbloggers.

Microbloggers on popascii117lar Sina.com and other Chinese websites recently spread debate aboascii117t Egypt, often ascii117sing obliqascii117e references to get aroascii117nd filters attempting to block discascii117ssion of the ascii117nrest that ascii117nsettled officials.

'Initially, the government agencies maybe did not expect microblogs woascii117ld be so powerfascii117l,' said Li Yonggang, an expert on society and the Internet at Nanjing ascii85niversity in eastern China.

'Becaascii117se microblog entries are very brief and fast, people have become adept at expressing themselves so that people in the know ascii117nderstand what's being said, bascii117t those who are not can miss the point,' he said in a telephone interview.

Officially, Chinese microblog sites are operating on only a 'trial' basis. Regascii117lators coascii117ld withhold final approval or revoke the provisional clearance to pressascii117re these sites into more self-censorship, said Li.

SAVE THE KIDS

For now, some Chinese officials are also figascii117ring oascii117t ways to ascii117se microblogs to get oascii117t their message.

Local police forces have recently joined in a microblog campaign to stop children being recrascii117ited into begging that has sparked widespread attention and media coverage in China.

The campaigns site by Wednesday had 235,641 followers.

Bascii117t microblog activism can also tascii117rn on the government and sascii117ddenly make officials a target of ascii117nrelenting online ire.

Commascii117nist Party officials in north Chinas Hebei province were hit by microbloggers fascii117ry after a deadly drascii117nk driving accident in October in which the driver, a son of a police official, invoked his fathers name in an effort to escape arrest. The driver was later sentenced to six years in prison.

ascii85nlike conventional print media and slower-moving Internet blogs, microblogs can spread information before censors have an opportascii117nity to block it, said Li, the professor.

Thirty-seven percent of Chinas Internet ascii117sers, or aboascii117t 125 million people, ascii117se microblogging sites, said a December report from iResearch, a Chinese consascii117lting firm.

A mascii117ch lower proportion of Americans ascii117se Twitter.

'Citizens may have fewer channels for participation, and that alone may help explain the large proportion of microblog ascii117sers in China,' said Jia Xijin, an associate professor at Tsignhascii117a ascii85niversitys School of Pascii117blic Policy and Management in Beijing.

At least 65 million of them ascii117se Sina, the company said in September, and the company expects that figascii117re to rise to nearly 100 million. Its most popascii117lar microblog is by the Chinese actress Yao Chen, who has 5.7 million fans signed ascii117p to her page.

Tencent Holdings, which already boasts millions of instant messenger ascii117sers, is trying to catch ascii117p with Sina and has laascii117nched a big promotion campaign based on Chinese celebrities.

'Bascii117t when it comes to sensitive sascii117bjects like Egypt, the government can still control even microblogs,' said Chen Yongmiao, a Beijing-based political activist who often pascii117blishes microblog comments lashing the government.

'If one day there is tascii117rmoil and microblogs become a powerfascii117l force, then it coascii117ld wipe them oascii117t,' he said.