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"Since its founding in 1949, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has exerted great effort in manipulating the flow of information and prohibiting the dissemination of viewpoints that criticize the government or stray from the official Communist party view. The introduction of Internet technology in the mid-1990’s presented a challenge to government control over news sources, and by extension, over public opinion. While the Internet has developed rapidly, broadened access to news, and facilitated mass communications in China, many forms of expression online, as in other mass media, are still significantly stifled.

"Empirical studies have found that China has one of the most sophisticated content-filtering Internet regimes in the world. The Chinese government employs increasingly sophisticated methods to limit content online, including a combination of legal regulation, surveillance, and punishment to promote self-censorship, as well as technical controls. U.S. government efforts to defeat Internet “jamming” include funding through the Broadcasting Board of Governors to provide counter-censorship software to Chinese Internet users to access Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) in China.

"As U.S. investments in China and bilateral trade have surged in the past several years and China has developed its communications infrastructure, Chinese society has undergone rapid changes while the PRC government has continued to repress political dissent. Many U.S. observers, including government officials, have argued that economic openness and the growth of the Internet in China would help bring about political liberalization in China. However, contrary to facilitating freedom, some private U.S. companies have been charged with aiding or complying with Chinese Internet censorship. Private U.S. companies that provide Internet hardware, such as routers, as well as those that provide Internet services such as Web-log (blog) hosting or search portals, have been accused of ignoring international standards for freedom of expression when pursuing business opportunities in the PRC market.

"In the 108th Congress, the provisions of the “Global Internet Freedom Act” (H.R. 48) were subsumed into the Foreign Relations Authorization Act of 2004-05 (H.R. 1950) and passed by the House on July 16, 2003. Christopher Cox reintroduced the bill (H.R. 2216) to the 109th Congress in May 2005. If passed, the act would authorize $50 million for FY2006 and FY2007 to develop and implement a global Internet freedom policy. The act would also establish an office within the International Broadcasting Bureau with the sole mission of countering Internet jamming by repressive governments. On February 1, 2006, the Congressional Human Rights Caucus held a hearing entitled, “Human Rights and the Internet — The People’s Republic of China.” On February 15, 2006, the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations of the House International Relations Committee will hold a joint hearing with the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific regarding the Internet and censorship in China."

- CRS Report to Congress, Internet Development and Information Control in the People's Republic of China, Executive Summary (Feb 2006) PDF PDF

  • See Cyberwar:  China US
  • Cyberlaw and China
  • Huawei

    See Backbones.

    Wikipedia: "Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. (Mandarin pronunciation: [xw?w??]) is a Chinese multinational networking and telecommunications equipment and services company headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. It is the largest telecommunications equipment maker in the world, after having overtaken Ericsson. Huawei was founded in 1987 by ex-military officer Ren Zhengfei and formed as a private company owned by its employees. Its core missions are building telecommunications networks; providing operational and consulting services and equipment to enterprises inside and outside of China; and manufacturing communications devices for the consumer market. Huawei has over 140,000 employees, around 46% of whom are engaged in research and development (R&D). It has 20 R&D institutes in countries including China, the United States, Germany, Sweden, India, Russia, and Turkey, and in 2011 invested around US$3.74 billion in R&D. In 2010, Huawei recorded profit of 23.8 billion CNY (3.7 billion USD).] Its products and services have been deployed in more than 140 countries and it currently serves 45 of the world's 50 largest telecoms operators."

    Hearings

  • US House of Representatives, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Investigation of the Security Threat Posed by Chinese Telecommunications Companies Huawei and ZTE Sep 13, 2012 10:00am
  • Google v China January 2010

    Sec. of State Hilary Clinton,
    Internet Freedom (Jan. 22, 2010)
  • See also Google :: First Amendment
  • In January 2010 Google announced that it would cease doing business in China on the grounds that Google had been the victim of cyberattacks that originated out of China. Some of these attacks on Google were targeted at the accounts of Chinese human rights workers. Reports indicate that these cyberattacks targeted many US companies, however, Google is the only company that responded in this way. The website www.google.cn reportedly stopped filtering its content and google.cn could be used to get access about the Dalai Lama, Tiananmen Square, and Chinese religious movements. Officially Google states that they have not started to not-filter google.cn but may do so in the near future unless these issues are resolved. Google did upgrade some of its web based applications, such as Gmail, to the more secure HTTPS protocol.
  • Dec. 2009 Google subject to sophisticated attack on infrastructure. Much more sophisticated than usual. It resulted in theft of IP from Google. Approximately 20 other countries were the target of this attack. Google was given reason to believe that the target of the attack were gmail accounts of human rights activists. Google also discovered compromised gmail accounts of people who are affiliated with human rights work.
  • Sec. of State Hilary Clinton gave a speech on Jan. 21 on free speech and the Internet which reference the issues Google has experience with China. Clinton referred to Chinese censorship as an "iron curtain" on the Internet.
  • In an Internet connected era, an attack on one nation's network is an attack on all nation's networks.
  • While this is a reference to WWII policy, it is also literally true that any attack affects all assets on the network.
  • China has responded by saying that China was the true victim of the cyberattacks. China responded to Clinton by saying that this is "information imperialism." A Chinese represented commented on Google by saying that everyone knows that Google is simply a bastion of pornography.
  • Google went into China in approximately 2003. At that time there was a great public criticism of Google's cooperation with an authoritarian regime. This was in the context of other countries such as Yahoo! having problems with having turned over subscribers information which was then used to prosecute Chinese human rights workers. Google did get some concessions at that time; any time Google blocked a website pursuant to Chinese censorship rules, Google provided notice to the subscriber that the website had been blocked. This had not been done before. Other companies followed suit and began to provide notice of blocked content to users. It is reported that even the Chinese search engine adopted this policy.
  • Google's market in China has apparently not been large, and it is reportedly not the largest search engine in China. Google states that it did just complete its best quarter in China..
  • Google has received strong praise for its actions.
  • Papers

    chinachina

    News

  • China Gleefully Uses UK Desire For Censorship To Validate Its Own Censorship, Techdirt 8/15/2011
  • 'China hackers' hit Google e-mail, BBC 6/2/2011
  • China Creates New Agency for Patrolling the Internet, NYT 5/6/2011
  • China blocks access to WikiLeaks, CW 12/1/2010
  • Chinese Woman Imprisoned for Twitter Message, NYT 11/19/2010
  • China's Green Dam may be ready to collapse, CNET 7/16/2010
  • China confirms Google's licence renewal, Globe and Mail 7/12/2010
  • China Favors Aggressive Expansion of Internet Access But No Relaxation of Censorship, Circleid 6/9/2010
  • Accidentally Importing Censorship, Renesys 4/1/2010
  • Network Solutions, GoDaddy cease registering Web sites in China, Wash Post 3/26/2010
  • China issues media rules for stories on Google, CNET 3/26/2010
  • Thanks, Google:, Volohk Conspiracy 3/24/2010
  • Senate Leader Seeks Answers on Net Freedom, Internet News 2/4/2010
  • China: We are biggest victim of cyberattacks, CW 1/19/2010
  • Internet in China Disrupted for a Third Day After Earthquake Damaged Undersea Cables, CircleID 8/20/2009
  • Green Dam is Breached. Now What?, CircleID 7/2/2009
  • Green Dam Implementation Delayed in China, Palfrey 6/30/2009
  • U.S. Objects to China's Web Filtering, NYT 6/25/2009
  • China accuses Google of spreading pornography, Globe and Mail 6/25/2009
  • China Faces Criticism Over Computer Filtering Plan, NYT 6/11/2009
  • To Shut Off Tiananmen Talk, China Disrupts Sites, NYT 6/5/2009
  • YouTube Outage in China Enters Third Day, Internet News 3/27/2009
  • China Shuts Down 'Unregistered' Websites, Techdirt 2/26/2009
  • China - Cyber-dissident Guo Feixiong tortured in detention - 6.11.2008, rsf 11/7/2008
  • Beijing Net cafes to take mug shots, scan IDs, CNET 10/21/2008
  • China - Detained cyber-dissident Huang Qi finally allowed to see his lawyer - 24.09.2008, RSF 9/24/2008
  • iTunes blocked in China, Globe and Mail 8/27/2008
  • China - "Geoblocking" on the Internet : Reporters without borders condemns a discriminatory measure towards Internet users in Tibet - 21.08.2008, RSF 8/20/2008
  • IOC admits it accepted China Internet censorship, CW 7/31/2008
  • China Internet Users Pass 250 Million, Surpassing U.S. as Largest Internet Population, CircleID 7/28/2008
  • China - Detained cyber-dissident Huang Qi finally allowed to see his lawyer - 24.09.2008, RSF 9/24/2008
  • iTunes blocked in China, Globe and Mail 8/27/2008
  • China - "Geoblocking" on the Internet : Reporters without borders condemns a discriminatory measure towards Internet users in Tibet - 21.08.2008, RSF 8/20/2008
  • IOC admits it accepted China Internet censorship, CW 7/31/2008
  • China Internet Users Pass 250 Million, Surpassing U.S. as Largest Internet Population, CircleID 7/28/2008
  • China - Cyber-dissident accused of illegal possession of state secrets is denied right to see lawyer - 21.07.2008, RSF 7/21/2008
  • China and U.S. lead in Internet attacks, CNET 5/30/2008
  • Internet freedom' bill targeting China cooperation faces rough road, CNET 5/28/2008
  • Belarus - Ministers urged not to follow Chinese model of online censorship - 11.06.2008, RSF 6/13/2008
  • Senators weigh new laws over China online censorship, CNET 5/22/2008
  • Chinese bloggers get free rein as earthquake slows censors, CW 5/22/2008
  • 7.9 earthquake stuns Chinese tech region, Motorola reports minor injuries, CNET 5/13/2008
  • Cyberprotest of CNN called off (for now), CNET 4/21/2008
  • CNN cyberattack called off, CW 4/21/2008
  • China censorship workarounds: 'To post or not to post?', CNET 4/8/2008
  • China - China urged to go beyond charm offensive and unblock thousands of websites - 5.04.2008, Reporters Without Boarders 4/8/2008
  • Cyber Attacks Target Pro-Tibet Groups, Wash Post 3/25/2008
  • China - Crackdown in Tibet away from the eye of the media in new violation of Olympics pledge - 17.03.2008, Reporters Without Boarders 3/20/2008
  • China Blocks YouTube After Videos of Tibet Protests Are Posted, NYT 3/17/2008
  • China overtakes U.S. as top Web market, Globe and Mail 3/13/2008
  • China - Detained cyber-dissident has been on hunger strike for nearly 80 days - 27.02.2008, Reporters Without Boarders 2/28/2008
  • China: Restrictions on Web Video and Audio, NYT 1/8/2008
  • China Blocks YouTube During Major Political Event, Tech Daily Dose 10/23/2007
  • China Clamps Down on ISPs - To quiet dissent before 17th Communist Party Congress., DSLreports 9/27/2007
  • China: No, No, No, It's Other Countries Hacking OUR Military Computers, techdirt 9/14/2007
  • China Denies US Accusations of Cyber-Espionage, Ecommerce Times 9/12/2007
  • Yahoo Asks Court In U.S. to Dismiss Suit Over China, Wash Post 8/29/2007
  • China seeks real-name registration for bloggers, America's Network 8/24/2007
  • Censors powerless against the Net, Globe and Mail 8/14/2007
  • China city to tighten internet controls, FT 7/10/2007
  • China Denies US Accusations of Cyber-Espionage, Ecommerce Times
  • China Bars Establishment Of New Internet Cafés in 2007, NY Sun 6/5/2007
  • China to use Marxism to clean-up Internet, Focus News 4/24/2007
  • Wife Of Jailed Chinese Dissident Suing Yahoo For Handing Over His Info, Techdirt 3/8/2007
  • Cyber cafe freeze, Sydney 3/8/2007
  • State Dept. Human Rights Report Faults China's Curbs on Internet, Wash Post 3/8/2007
  • One-Tenth of China Online, Clickz 2/1/2007
  • China Internet market grows to 137 million users, Info World 1/23/2007
  • Companies, Groups Address Global Civil Liberties Challenges, CDT 1/19/2007
  • Internet groups respond to China critics, FT 1/19/2007
  • China's blogging population reaches 20 million, Internet News 1/12/2007
  • Repairs finally begin on Internet cables, Bangkok Post 1/5/2007
  • Emergency measures in Hong Kong after Web chaos, AFP 1/3/2007
  • China says Internet services to return by January 15, America's Network 1/3/2007
  • Broken links tie up Web in Asia, USA Today 1/3/2007
  • China 'crackdown on online games', BBC 12/12/2006
  • Group: Journalists jailed more in China, USA Today 12/8/2006
  • China 'unblocks' Wikipedia site, BBC 11/17/2006
  • Chinese Government Relaxes Its Total Ban on Wikipedia, NYT 10/17/2006
  • Chinese censors target web spoofs, Guardian 8/15/2006
  • Western Internet firms "act as censors" in China, USA Today 8/11/2006
  • Google in China, Becker Posner Blog 7/28/2006
  • Groups urge passage of online free speech law, America's Network 7/21/2006
  • China unblocks search engines of popular Chinese portals, AFP 6/21/2006
  • Yahoo cited in jailing of China Internet writer, Reuters 4/28/2006
  • Chinese Internet writer sentenced to 12 years, Reuters 5/16/2006
  • As Chinese Students Go Online, Little Sister Is Watching, NYT 5/9/2006
  • Skype says texts are censored by China, MSNBC 4/20/2006
  • Chinese Internet dissident protests innocence during subversion trial, AFP 4/12/2006
  • China's VoIP Blockade - Sheltering state-run telco from competition, Broadband Reports 4/7/2006
  • China sentences Internet writer to 10 years in prison, Internet news 3/21/2006
  • Don't cave to Beijing on Internet, Zanesville Times Recorder 2/28/2006
  • China Revamps Internet Domain Name System, ITU 2/28/2006
  • Huge new wave of blogging in China, IHT 11/29/2005
  • China reportedly shuts down blog, USA Today 11/4/2005
  • China tightens noose on media with new Web rules, Express India 9/20/2005
  • China defends new Internet restrictions, Forbes 9/20/2005
  • 16th China Internet Survey Report, CNNIC 7/29/2005
  • Korea, China, Japan Agree to Tackle Internet Troubles, Korean Times 8/19/2005
  • 100 million go online in China, BBC 6/29/2005
  • China Internet users grow 18 pct to hit 103 million, Reuters 7/22/2005
  • 'Freedom' a Taboo Word on Chinese Internet, AP 6/14/2005
  • Luyan Li , China's Information Policy, TPRC 9/13/03
  • The Internet in India and China, First Monday 10/9/02
  • Lokman Tsui, Internet in China: Big Mama Is Watching You
  • Shanthi Kalathil & Taylor Boas, The Internet and State Control in Authoritarian Regimes: China, Cuba & the Counterrevolution
  • Larry Press, Foster and Goodman, The Internet and Greater South China (Taiwan, Hong Kong, Fujian & Guangdong)
  • Larry Press, Foster and Goodman, The Internet in China & India
  • William Foster & Seymour Goodman, The Diffusion of the Internet in China
  • Google gets permit to operate in China, Globe and Mail 5/17/2005
  • China Orders All Web Sites to Register, AP 6/7/2005
  • Chinese blogs face restrictions, BBC 6/7/2005
  • Chinese control Internet by sophisticated means, IHT 4/15/2005
  • China's Giant Pandas Get Broadband, Reuters 4/5/2005
  • China uses Internet to oppose Japan's UN bid, Standard 4/1/2005
  • Chinese Censors and Web Users Match Wits, NYT 3/4/2005
  • China net cafe culture crackdown, BBC 2/15/2005
  • China shuts 12,500 'illegal' cybercafes, Register 2/15/2005
  • China Blocking Access to Google News Site, Reuters 11/30/2004
  • China fearful of net, Register 1/7/2005
  • China Bans Video Game for Breach of Sovereignty, Reuters 12/7/2004
  • China leads world on broadband, BBC 10/5/2004
  • China Cracking Down on Internet Cafes, CNET 11/3/2004
  • China Urges ISPs to Pledge 'Patriotism' (AP), 6/21/2004
  • Chinese cyber-dissident gets four years' house arrest, Register 6/14/2004
  • China to censor text messages, BBC 7/2/2004
  • Fifteenth Anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, World Press 6/4/2004
  • China closes down 16,000 Internet cafes in three months, AFP 6/4/2004
  • China censors online video games, BBC 6/1/2004
  • China bans game for 'distorting history', SMH 6/1/2004
  • China's Internet policy is criticized, MenaFN 3/1/2004
  • China pulls plug on two blog sites, CNET 3/18/2004
  • China mobiles outstrip landlines, BBC 1/8/2004
  • China internet dissident arrested, BBC 2/18/2004
  • China's Web surfers swell to 79.5 million, CNET 1/15/2004
  • China internet dissidents freed, BBC 12/2/2003
  • Chinese expert says Internet can't be controlled in China, Mercury 11/21/2003
  • China to consolidate Net cafes, CNET 10/27/2003
  • China's web surfers keep growing, BBC 7/23/03
  • Chinese Work Around Net Blocking, Wired 6/27/03
  • Chinese censor online chat, BBC 5/19/03
  • China Jails Web Dissidents, BBC 5/30/03
  • China Jails Two for Running Internet Cafe, AP 4/28/03
  • Paper: Belonging and diaspora: The Chinese and the Internet, First Monday 4/9/03
  • China Sentences American to 3 Years for Hacking Broadcast, NYT 3/21/03
  • China opens web to the West, BBC 3/17/03
  • China Sentences American to 3 Years for Hacking Broadcast, NYT 3/21/03
  • China jails Web activist, Internet Mag 2/19/03
  • China jails Internet dissident for seven years, Deutsche Welle 2/19/03
  • Internet dissident jailed, ZDNet 2/19/03
  • Official: China to Surpass U.S. on Tech, Yahoo 1/27/03
  • On the Net: China Second in Internet Usage, Newsfactor 1/17/03
  • China fumes at Taiwan's involvement in conference, Taipei Times 1/15/03
  • Beijing blocks bloggers, CNET 1/15/03
  • Nearly 60 million Internet users in China, NUA 12/20/02
  • China arrests publisher of online pro-democracy journal: report, Ananova 12/18/02
  • China detains Web democracy activist, Reuters 12/18/02
  • New Study Finds Internet May Not Be Opening Up China, VOA 12/18/02
  • China blocks news not porn online, BBC 12/4/02
  • China censors democracy websites, Guardian 12/4/02
  • China Has World's Tightest Internet Censorship, Study Finds, NYT 12/4/02
  • How to be censored by China online, MSNBC 12/4/02
  • How China Is Making the Pen as Mighty as the PC, Wash Post 12/4/02
  • China slammed for jailing Internet users, CNN 12/2/02
  • Hackers may get U.S. funds to fight China's Web curbs MSNBC 11/5/02
  • China eases restrictions on .cn CNET 10/30/02
  • China bars minors from Internet cafes NUA 10/15/02
  • China's 'Great Firewall' limits Internet, IHT 10/1/02
  • China arrests Web writer for subversion, CNET 9/26/02
  • China Ends Google Block, USA Today 9/13/02
  • Chinese government backs down on Google, Guardian 9/13/02
  • China Hijacks Google's Domain Name, IDG 9/10/02
  • China's Web firms gain as Google loses, IHT 9/10/02
  • China blocks second search website, BBC 9/6/02
  • China Blocks Google Search Engine, AP 9/4/02
  • Google fights Chinese ban, bbc 9/4/02
  • Google inaccessible in China, CNET 9/4/02
  • China third in Internet usage, CNEWS 8/2/02
  • China Shuts Down 14,000 Internet Cafes, Reuters 7/29/02
  • China Claims 3rd Place In World Net Usage, MSNBC 7/24/02
  • China Internet Use Grows, BBC 7/24/02
  • China signs Net access pact, CNET 7/17/02
  • Net watchdog blasts China Web rules, CNET 7/17/02
  • Beijing Net cafes shuttered after fire, CNET 6/17/02
  • Censoring the Internet: The Situation in Turkey, First Monday 6/5/02
  • Shanghai Cybercafes Shut Down, BBC 5/6/02
  • Chinese authorities shut down 200 Internet bars, USA Today 5/6/02
  • China allows access to some news organizations' Web sites, Nando 5/17/02
  • China to get tough with 'harmful' Internet content, Agence France-Presse 5/3/02
  • China in 2nd place for at-home Net, MSNBC 4/22/02
  • Nearly Half Of Canada's Net Households Go Broadband, Newsbytes 5/1/02
  • Net access leaders look into China, CNET 3/21/02
  • China's Internet Population Nears 34 Million - Survey, Newsbytes 2/8/02
  • Chinese internet dissidents jailed, BBC 1/18/02
  • China Issues Internet Controls, AP 1/18/02
  • China issues new Internet controls, MSNBC 1/18/02
  • China issues strict Internet, e-mail controls , USA Today 1/18/02
  • China orders Net providers to Screen email, CNN 1/18/02
  • China amends trademark law to combat piracy, Times India 10/30/01
  • China replaces Web site barriers, CNET 10/22/01
  • BBC News Online blocked at Apec (China), BBC 10/18/01
  • China eases online restrictions, CNET 10/18/01
  • China unblocks news sites as leaders gather, CNN 10/18/01
  • Chinese Net trial Begins, CNEWS 9/28/01
  • Chinese lawyer sentenced for e-mailing dissident journal, Nando 9/17/01
  • China makes first arrest of Net hacker, CNET 9/14/01
  • China Shuts Down College BBS, Wired 9/5/01
  • China tries Webmaster, CNET 8/17/01
  • Cisco connects with China, CNET 8/24/01
  • Thousands of Internet Cafes Closed in China, InternetNews 7/20/01
  • Chinese Government Closes 2,000 Cyber Cafes, Newsfactor 7/20/01
  • China Shuts Down 2,000 Cybercafes, Register 7/20/01
  • China Shuts Down 2,000 Internet Cafes, Paper Says, Reuters 7/20/01
  • Hong Kong

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