China condemns US call for unrestricted internet

[Martin N]

China has denounced US criticisms of its internet controls, saying it could harm ties between the two countries.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on Thursday for China to lift restrictions on the internet.
Mrs Clinton also urged Beijing to investigate Google's complaints that cyber attacks had originated in China.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said the US should "respect the facts" and stop making "groundless accusations against China".
"The US has criticised China's policies to administer the internet, and insinuated that China restricts internet freedom," he said in a statement posted on the foreign ministry website.
"This runs contrary to the facts and is harmful to China-US relations."
An article in the Communist Party's Global Times English language news website called Mrs Clinton's criticisms "information imperialism".
Censored searches
In a wide-ranging speech in Washington, Mrs Clinton said the internet had been a "source of tremendous progress" in China but that any country which restricted free access to information risked "walling themselves off from the progress of the next century".
She said that the US intended to address issues of internet freedom within its relationship with Beijing.
She also called for tough action against people and states that carried out cyber attacks.
Google said on 12 January that hackers had tried to infiltrate its software coding and the e-mail accounts of Chinese human rights activists, in a "highly sophisticated" attack.
The California-based company, which launched in China in 2006, said it would quit the country unless it could find a way to operate within Chinese law with less censorship.
Google's Chinese-language search engine does not return results for terms such as Tiananmen Square protests and Falun Gong.
Chinese officials have said repeatedly that Google and other foreign internet companies were welcome to operate within China as long as they obeyed the country's laws and traditions.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asi...ic/8474011.stm

What i find ironic though is that we have also tried to censor and restrict our internet to defend against 'Terrorism' and 'National Security

This isnt really a good thing considering how much money we actually owe china for lending money to our broke ass, But since when has ties been good between our countries anyway ?

[bushbush]

good they are pressuring the CCP to lift restrictions, not that those restrictions make any difference considering how easy they can be overcome.

This isnt really a good thing considering how much money we actually owe china for lending money to our broke ass, But since when has ties been good between our countries anyway ?

.......i can't take this anymore.

I am tired of the argument that just because China controls half of US treasury debt bonds, China somehow is US' boss. Reasons:

1. China is actually US' in this case. Why? If US fed reserve decides to unleash inflation, China stands to lose hundreds of billions in assets in a few nights.
2. Where else can China purchase such safe and secure assets in such high quantity? The stock market??? And if China tries to sell them at once (a threat feared by people like you), where else is China going to sell? And what can china gain from destroying the US currency?

Thus, the oil deals have nothing to do with currency. And US invasion has little to do with oil. RTW Fan's misguided world view blows up in front of facts.

[Dr Zoidberg]

good they are pressuring the CCP to lift restrictions, not that those restrictions make any difference considering how easy they can be overcome.

Whilst I agree with you that they are easy to overcome, that's only as long as you a) have the knowledge, b) the equipment (i.e. a personal computer), & c) the money (VPNs etc.). Most Chinese citizens don't have these options.

It's the principle of the thing. The Chinese people shouldn't have to go to efforts to circumvent censorship or blocked content. It should be available to them as a matter of course. For the vast majority of Chinese citizens, this is not the case.

[bushbush]

It's the principle of the thing. The Chinese people shouldn't have to go to efforts to circumvent censorship or blocked content. It should be available to them as a matter of course. For the vast majority of Chinese citizens, this is not the case.

vast of them like most people in other countries, go online to play WoW, download , and watch porn lol and occasionally receiving a Falun Gong message while chatting on QQ. I am more concerned with the state going to such length for a futile effort rather than thinking about how to reform the political system.

[Martin N]

I never really said they controlled us with there ownership of us treasury bonds, i really only meant that its not good to piss them off when they was good enough to lend us the money, plus couldent they call back the money whenever they wanted ? Whether we paid them back is another story, but its still could destroy the progress weve made in the economy the past few months.

[bushbush]

I never really said they controlled us with there ownership of us treasury bonds, i really only meant that its not good to piss them off when they was good enough to lend us the money, plus couldent they call back the money whenever they wanted ? Whether we paid them back is another story, but its still could destroy the progress weve made in the economy the past few months.

read point 2 above you.

[Poach]

I think Mrs. Clinton should stop thinking she's the worlds justice watchdog. It's entirely counterproductive.

She calls on China to lift restrictions, they entrench themselves.
She called on Scotland not to release Magrebhi (sp?) and they release him. Else what? Everyone cries "US lapdog"...

She doesn't help, only pokes her nose where it doesn't belong and makes things worse for her side...

[Dr Zoidberg]

I think Mrs. Clinton should stop thinking she's the worlds justice watchdog. It's entirely counterproductive.

She calls on China to lift restrictions, they entrench themselves.
She called on Scotland not to release Magrebhi (sp?) and they release him. Else what? Everyone cries "US lapdog"...

She doesn't help, only pokes her nose where it doesn't belong and makes things worse for her side...

Cart before the horse there...on both occasions. The Chinese Government already increased restrictions. The Scottish Justice Minister had already announced the decision to release the Lockerbie bomber.

Clinton simply responded to these actions. Considering she is the US Secretary of State, it makes perfect sense that she do so. Especially considering both actions are related to the US.

Do you really think the respective decisions you mentioned were made because of her opposing statements? Because if so, even by the standards of some of the stuff posted on this board, that's moronic.

[Poach]

Do you really think the respective decisions you mentioned were made because of her opposing statements? Because if so, even by the standards of some of the stuff posted on this board, that's moronic.

I did not know her statement was made after Chinese increases, I concede on that one. As for Megrabhi, she made the statement before he was released, granted at the time it was considered likely but had not been confirmed.

And no, I wouldn't credit her with that much influence, merely an observation on her world policeman attitude.