Slashdot Mirror
China Says Its Internet Policies Are Open and Clear
itwbennett writes "Responding to a U.S. request to explain China's policies regarding blocking U.S. websites, China's foreign ministry said the country's Internet policies have been open and clear. 'The Chinese government encourages and actively supports the Internet's development and we also protect the freedom of expression of citizens in China,' said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu. 'We welcome foreign companies to invest and develop here, and we will continue to foster an open policy market.' The request, filed under World Trade Organization rules, is an effort to understand the trade impact of such blocking after a number of U.S. businesses have made complaints about access to their websites in China."
Bullshit.
In other news the United States claims it is still the land of the free.
Well, the truth is that many Chinese citizens want this type of censorship to protect them. Most Chinese are conditioned to think that the harmony of the state takes precedence over all else. It follows that any major source of chaos needs to be stamped out.
I doubt most slashdotters or even most Westerners realize this critical cultural difference. Like it or now, that is the type of thinking you are up against. Conventional wisdom in China says that change is slow, because there are so many people and a lot of cultural inertia.
Change is coming to China, very slowly. All those Chinese with elite foreign education are returning to China, and those returning chafe at restricted internet access and other abridged privileges (unless they're in government).
On another note, in Chinese intellectual circles a common discussion is how to manage the decline of the West. We (Westerners) need to become more sophisticated in how we spar with our friendly adversaries.
A witty saying proves you are wittier than the next guy.
Chinas' internet policies *are* open and clear! They are very open with their policies, and very clear with their policies!
Eg: Its very clear that they will block any sites they deem detrimental to the communist party, the state, the army or anything else they deem inappropriate. They are quite open with this policy. They will tell anyone who asks, and will even inform people who didn't ask. Its their *internet* that isn't open or clear, but their *internet policies* are very open and clear. Call it semantics if you like, or even pedantic, but its true. I have every expectation that is exactly what they meant.
'The Chinese government encourages and actively supports the Internet's development and we also protect the freedom of expression of citizens in China,'
Translation: 'The Chinese government encourages and actively supports the Internet's development as a State-controlled and censored network and we also protect the State-monitored and scripted freedom of expression of citizens in China,'
'We welcome foreign companies to invest and develop here, and we will continue to foster an open policy market.'
Translation: 'We welcome foreign companies to invest and develop here as long as they conform to State-mandated censorship policies and anything else we care to dictate to them, and we will continue to foster the illusion of an open policy market.'
..and before any of you decide to moderate me down as a "Troll": Yes, I strongly dislike the Chinese government, and would sooner trust the word of some strung-out meth-head with the DT's than anything they would say -- and furthermore I think you're a fool if you think otherwise.
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
Inflation not just hit all cities in china, but also villages too. From my visit to my hometown, I noticed that one kilogram of eggs, last year, was 4 yuans. Now it is 10 yuans. When my wife was in high school, an egg roll snack would cost 2.5 yuans. Now it is 6 yuans. I fully support Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu as she is looking out for the interests of Chinese citizens. I am proud of China for what it is - capitalistic, energetic, and full of opportunities.
I would say that US is more pathetic. At least China keeps it within their own region. US takes it everywhere with ACTA, DMCA and actually making Verisign and ICANN remove domains for copyright infringement. China filters and doesn't affect other countries.
Regardless, the summary here is again written in such a manner that it's only there to gain responses like "fuck China!". They *are* very open about their policies. US less so, where everything seems to be done secretly. ACTA has been and is being pushed secretly too. Chinese people also want that kind of controlling of the internet. They know you can't change everything at once or it will lead to even more larger problems. They're slowly changing, but you can't do it at once, and people understand it. It's funny you Americans promote the idea of democracy but then want to force people of other countries to do as you do. Why can't let the Chinese choose themselves?
This is part of the reason why the internet here in America needs to be officially declared as a utility, much like the telephone, so that companies and the government are unable to filter or censor it, or to give certain companies advantages over others in what travels across it.
Seriously, the internet is in 75+% of homes by now. I bet when the telephone was considered a utility, it was still in far fewer homes than that. What's the difference?
All the nations engage in censorship. It doesn't justify it, but what's the difference between:
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
China doesn't push for ACTA and such because they don't give a rat's ass if they're pirating software from the rest of the world. Hell, they practically depend on piracy, knockoffs, etc from the west. I also find it funny that they are open about these policies when TFS said "The Chinese government encourages and actively supports the Internet's development and we also protect the freedom of expression of citizens in China", which is such outright bullshit that you wonder why they even bother spinning this shit anymore. You think it's due to China actually WANTING change on the human rights front? Are you kidding me? The party does it to remain in power. It's that simple. Yes, China needs to sort out its own problems, and yes, the US is far from perfect, but really, you're off the deep end here.
I mostly agree here, except for your "people didn't have rights until 200 years ago." The debate on what were rights of citizens goes back beyond classical times. Most societies in human history have concepts of rights and duties.
That being said, the whole "we can't do anything, it's human nature" argument has always been a crock, and I'm really glad to see someone else fighting it.
that is something many people do not understand. china may not be perfect, and not very pleasing to the individual in our standards, but in its deepest roots they are not warmongers or tyrants either, and they do not want to "attack the world". The chinese people themselves might not be so dazzled by western wisdom anyway at the moment i think, and we might have to listen up sometimes to them, too..
wake up. the western world is as free as china is. here you have to own money (best "partner" or "manager"), there you have to be a good chinese (best "partymember").
the world does not change for the individual over the centuries.
however, of course they mean with the freedom of expression their version of freedom of expression, which might not apply to every topic there is, but honestly, our freedom of expression is worth nothing if you only are allowed to have opinions, which nobody cares about anyway.