Tech | January 22, 2010 | 31 comments

China slams US criticism of Internet controls

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100122/ap_on_hi_te/as_china_google

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remanns
BEIJING – Beijing issued a stinging response Friday to Hillary Rodham Clinton's criticism that it is jamming the free flow of words and ideas on the Internet, accusing the United States of damaging relations between the two countries by imposing its "information imperialism" on China.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu defended China's policies regarding the Web, saying the nation's Internet regulations were in line with Chinese law and did not hamper the cyber activities of the world's largest online population. His remarks follow those made by the U.S. secretary of state, who in a speech Thursday criticized countries engaging in cyberspace censorship, and urged China to investigate computer attacks against Google.
"Regarding comments that contradict facts and harm China-U.S. relations, we are firmly opposed," Ma said in a statement posted Friday on the ministry's Web site. "We urge the U.S. side to respect facts and stop using the so-called freedom of the Internet to make unjustified accusations against China."

In her speech in Washington, Clinton cited China as among a number of countries where there has been "a spike in threats to the free flow of information" over the past year. She also named Tunisia, Uzbekistan, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam.
A state-run newspaper labeled the appeal from Washington as "information imperialism," and Ma insisted that China had "the most active development of the Internet" of any country.

Washington, meanwhile, carried its message on Internet freedom directly to Chinese bloggers. The U.S. Embassy in Beijing and consulates in Shanghai and Guangzhou hosted Internet-streamed discussions with members of the blogging community on Friday afternoon — the latest example of Washington's outreach to Chinese bloggers as a way of spreading its message.
more---
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100122/ap_on_hi_te/as_china_google

another source-
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/01/china-to-us-stop-accusations-on-...
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31 comments // China slams US criticism of Internet controls

  • TheTops
    • 0
      TheTops  

    • I am not sure where to even start with this one. I suppose from a purely philosophical viewpoint, it is a tragedy that China treats its citizenry as slaves. I commend Google for standing up for their belief system, (a free an open internet for all), and I think that it is their right not to do business with a country that they feel goes against their motto. It is a rare thing to see a business with a conscious, perhaps if more had one, they would deserve the recent supreme court decision to give them human rights. We may have screwed our economy and subsequently improved theirs, but perhaps this is the first step toward a reversal of fortune. Let China be prosperous, but not at the cost of America's prosperity. I'm also glad Clinton made this assertion, however since her opinion matters very little in the economic realm of this discussion, it does not really matter what she thinks, unless she is willing to make a much harsher statement about the aforementioned stranglehold that China has on its citizenry through the use of propaganda and murder.

    • 2 years ago
  • remanns
    • 0
      remanns  

    • Does anyone EVEN REMEMBER that the only reason we are doing business with China is to,.......hmmm,....bring freedom and suchlike enlightened world community values to China? Since when are we doing business with China JUST to do business with China ?!? I remember Nixon going to China,...and the little speeches made by following administrations concerning Chinese relations for decades afterwards [after words]. In a word,....whats up with that?? Just sayin.

    • 2 years ago
  • MirrorLake
    • 0
      MirrorLake  

    • Google didn't write the best damn search algorithms/software ever created just so governments could censor the results.

      How strange is it that an American company cares more about ethics and human rights than major world powers?!

    • 2 years ago
  • NanKing_Lee
  • NanKing_Lee
  • courage
    • 0
      courage  

    • whats the difference between china and democrats?Democrats want the fairness doctrin shutting down anyone who doesnt spew there line of garbage.They attack the one network who doesn't work for them.They scream bloody murder when the s.c.o.t.u.s. upholds the 1st amendment basically ending there campaign donation domination.

    • 2 years ago
  • cztheday
  • oppressed1
  • NanKing_Lee
  • kennymotown
    • 0
      kennymotown  

    • China has become what only American Corporations can dream of being. Oh wait didn't the Supreme Court make it possible now that Corporations can rule there country of origin America. Get ready America for the biggest ring up of CORPORATE FASCISM since Nazi Germany and Mussolini Italy! Then you will be banned from using the whole world internet.

    • 2 years ago
  • carmalite
    • 0
      carmalite  
    • kennymotown:

      Kennymotown, this is so depressing. I have been in a state of deep depression since that Supreme Court decision. I see a future of every stinking politician being owned by the parasitic corporations. And 2 classes one of lords and the other of peasants. Chief Justice Roberts is the devil. He really is the devil. I used to not believe in the devil but I do now and ts John Roberts.

    • 2 years ago
  • kennymotown
  • remanns
  • zHellas
  • Buddha2112
  • remanns
  • UrbanGypsy
    • 0
      UrbanGypsy  

    • Its not surprising that China would show the fake outrage it has. A typical defense of totalitarian regimes that engage in censorship is their "right to sovereignty" and their "right to do as they wish inside their own borders" with no accountability. This includes, jailing poltical activists, bloggers, torturing dissidents, stifling free speech, and censoring the internet.

      Its also no surpise that these same countries like China, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Cuba and the like are all infamous for their human rights abuses. Their policy is to show fake outrage and make themselves to be the victims of American imperialism so that the entire world can feel sorry for them.

    • 2 years ago
  • chinese_democracy
  • carmalite
  • cztheday
    • 0
      cztheday  
    • UrbanGypsy:

      Chinese D, for one thing, in China it is not only LEGAL for the government to do so, it is ENCOURAGED. I have pursued suits against several governmental agencies for Bill of Rights violations...but they have almost always been about improper attempts to place wire taps or pen registers on people's phone lines or e-mail servers. In other words, they have almost always been about invading people's privacy, not about limiting their access to information over the Internet or about sending "immoral or inappropriate material."

      The only significant exceptions that I have seen in 20 years have been in the areas of child pornography, stalking or (much more rarely) credible evidence that a violent crime is imminent. But even then, the agents have to get a warrant approved by a judge based on a showing of probable cause. And when the agents try to use a phony warrant -- it happens, but rarely -- they are fired and often serve jail time (depending on the severity of the violation of people's rights, of course)...

    • 2 years ago
  • carmalite
  • NanKing_Lee
  • kurthsb27
  • bdub4u
  • carmalite
    • 0
      carmalite  

    • All the Chinese propagandists that work for the totalitarian fascist Chinese government all hang out in USA today and aggressively defend any negative comment made about their wonderful government.
      But you have to admit, American corporations in general love China, because they can outsource American jobs and give the greedy "never enough of the pie" CEOs and executives and slam American workers for wanting to earn a living wage.

    • 2 years ago
  • afitzgerald
    • 0
      afitzgerald  

    • Really interesting story. Covered this over on the News blog: http://blogs.current.com/news/2010/01/22/hillary-creates-china-kerfuffle-over-in...

      And found this take from Joshua Keating at FP Passport who thinks China's response was overblown:
      "It strikes me that Beijing could have issued a statement along the lines of, "Secretary Clinton is right to say that the United States and China have different views on this issue. We welcome her invitation to dialog but ask that the United States respect the sovereignty of our electronic space and unique political context. We are actively engaged in cracking down on criminals and extremists who take refuge in cyberspace."

      Acting as if Clinton's temperate remarks amounted to a thrown gauntlet makes it appear to the outside world that they have something to be ashamed of. It doesn't seem like the response of a secure superpower."

    • 2 years ago
  • UrbanGypsy
  • Varex_Sythe
    • 0
      Varex_Sythe  

    • So we the United States, who don't have a basic enough grasp of basic economics to keep our economy out of the red, are giving another country shit about their inability to censor...

      Makes perfect sense.

    • 2 years ago
  • jaystyx
    • 0
      jaystyx  
    • Varex_Sythe:

      1) No country in the entire history of mankind has been able to avoid recession entirely.
      2) Economics and censorship are two entirely separate issues. Say what you will about the US, but people here can say whatever they want. Speaking up in China will get you locked up.

    • 2 years ago
  • Varex_Sythe
    • 0
      Varex_Sythe  
    • Varex_Sythe:

      The point is not about avoiding a recession. A recession is part of the normal ups and downs of an economic rhythm. The point is that the majority of our public were being coerced into making very shitty economical decisions and as of this moment. China owns a large portion of the debt that we as a nation have accumulated. Now here we are, many of us criticizing China on the issue of censorship when it is part of how their government is run. It might change, it might not, but their government works this way and they are not only more economically sound then the United States at the moment, but they are owed vast sums of currency from the United States.

      It's not so much a matter that the economy and censorship are two entirely separate issues. It is more a matter that we as a nation are being bailed out in part by a country, and until we pay them back we don't really have a lot of room to tell them how they should run their own nation.

    • 2 years ago
  • cztheday
    • 0
      cztheday  
    • Varex_Sythe:

      For almost the entire 20th century, China was an economic basket case. While they MAY be able to sustain their current growth rate a while longer an increasing number of their firms and industries are producing way more than can be exported or consumed domestically. The business cycle will eventually turn for China as well. What is that old expression? There is no such thing as gravity -- the world just sucks... Most Chinese still live well below the level we in the U.S. consider to be the Poverty Line. When their economy tanks, they will get to experience even more privation...AND censorship (no Internet porn?...INHUMAN!)

    • 2 years ago
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