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Foreign-owned Hotels To Install Firewall In China
Frosty Piss writes "Foreign-owned hotels in China face the prospect of 'severe retaliation' if they refuse to install government software that can spy on Internet use by hotel guests coming to watch the summer Olympic games. Republican Senator Sam Brownback produced a translated version of a document from China's Public Security Bureau that requires hotels to use the monitoring equipment. The Public Security Bureau order threatens that failure to comply could result in financial penalties, suspending access to the Internet or the loss of a license to operate a hotel in China. The policy was designed to 'ensure the smooth opening' of the Olympics, as well as 'promote the healthy and orderly development of the Internet, safeguard state security, maintain social order and protect public interests,' the translation of the one of the documents read."
They generate a lot of negative media OUTSIDE of China. It probably doesn't matter much to the Chinese government that foreigners view the administration with disdain, as long as Chinese nationals view the administration with respect and trust. In that sense, the People's Republic of China is very successful, as the vast majority Chinese nationals respect their leaders and believe that their leaders are doing their best to protect and promote the interests of China and its citizens.
Because they do not care what you think. They do not care what your politicians think. As long as they can control the information that their own people have access to, any outside fallout is more than acceptable.
They don't care what you think.
China, like much of the world, is very nationalistic, and it's hard for Americans to understand. Your nationality, ethnicity, language... all the same. They can't seperate a criticism of China the government from a criticism the people.
So the government have the Chinese people happily convinced that China is the greatest ever, there ever was, and all criticism from the outside is basically racism. Calling the government corrupt is as personally offensive to the average Chinese citizen as personally calling him a slant-eyed chink.
So, from the Chinese nationalists perspective, they're doing a good job blocking all that "racist propoganda". It's basically (to them) analagous to many western governments banning "hate speech".
Yeah I was thinking something similar. On the upside, at least in China you KNOW when the government is watching. They aren't that courteous in the U.S..
I'm sorry, I tried a number of times to write a polite reply, but it still came down to this - WHAT THE FUCK!
Did you guys notice that TFA was talking about the hotels for foreigners? For an average Chinese, the government does not just monitor you, it simply BLOCKS you from seeing what it doesn't want you to see.
Did you guys know that in China everybody has to disclose their real life identity before they get online? Did you guys know that there have been people in China going to jail just for posting on the Internet to question government policies?
Now try and show me how much worse - or less courteous - it is in the US.
I mean, I'm upset with the warrantless eavesdropping issue as much as the next guy. I have gone so far as to rent my own dedicated server and ran all my traffic through thor. But on the other hand, I think that going as far as stating "they aren't that courteous in the US" only shows how ungrateful you are.
Tyranny isn't the worst enemy of a democracy. Cynicism is.