China is shutting down popular blog sites. They've met the enemy and he is opposing those who are oppose opposing them:
Some Chinese Internet users said the sites were shut because one or more personal Web pages carried opinions on a well known doctor's letter to China's senior leadership asking them to reassess the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests.....Dr. Jiang Yanyong, who blew the whistle on China's SARS (news - web sites) cover-up last year, asked the Communist Party's powerful Politburo to reverse the official verdict that the student-led movement was a "counter-revolutionary rebellion."
This was not the first time Chinese authorities censored blogs, a popular medium for the country's 80 million Internet users. Last year, Web police blocked access to the U.S.-based "Blogspot" Web site, which then had more than one million users.Besides shutting down domestic sites, China has jailed people for Web postings, created a special cyber police force and blocked access to foreign news sites
If you are interested, check out Voluntarily in China, written by an American in China, who covered this and other issues as well.
Posted by: Manish on March 18, 2004 11:23 PMOne almost wishes they would decide that email and comment spammers are "enemies of the people." At least there would be some point to their floundering.
Posted by: Joe Kristan on March 19, 2004 11:40 AMHaving lived in China, it's my opinion that these sorts of moves are much more effective than you might expect. Now obviously, some information will get through the internet uncensored, and if perfect censorship is your standard then China is obviously failing. However, that is not the goal of the Chinese government. Instead, the goal of the government is to restrict access to most damaging information most of the time - and they're terrifyingly good at it. When most free information passageways are shut down most of the time, and when the state-run media is spreading a counter message daily, you'd be surprised how many Chinese buy the government's message.
Posted by: Greg on March 20, 2004 08:15 PMWe provide a comprehensive list of e-pharmacies to help you get the best Online Levitra Cialis Viagra deals. Cheap Levitra, in all clinical trials, has proven to be extremely successful.Each Levitra pill may work in as quickly as 16 minutes and may work for up to 24 hours, far surpassing the length of Viagra's effects which is an average of 4 hours. Buy Levitra http://www.one-levitra.com http://www.one-cialis.com http://www.one-levitra.com
Posted by: levitra on March 26, 2004 07:04 PMOnline Cialis Levitra Viagra has been an eventual success in Europe since its introduction in Early 2003.Cialis will now be available in US soon. You may buy Cialis through various registered pharmacies. Also try levitra , buy levitra cheap levitra http://www.one-levitra.com/ http://www.one-cialis.com/levitra.htm/ or visit these sites for news and side effects : cheap cialis http://www.one-cialis.com/
Posted by: cialis on March 26, 2004 07:04 PMOnline Tramadol is one of the most prescribed treatments for pain in the world. More than 55 million people have taken cheap Tramadol to relieve their back pain, shoulder pain, and other chronic conditions. By acting on parts of the brain that trigger pain, and by reducing the size of pain signals that travel throughout the body, Tramadol provides powerful pain relief in just minutes! Buy Tramadol Now or visit this site: http://www.top-tramadol.com!
Posted by: tramadol on March 28, 2004 11:24 AM