Chinese UN official: "In China, we don't have software blocking Internet sites."

[yllus]

China: We don't censor the Internet. Really

Read on for excerpts from Tuesday's discussion in Athens.

Chinese government official: We have talked a lot about China, and that's rather strange, because if we participate in forums like this, I think that we should spend more time reflecting on the issues that have been raised.

There are millions of Chinese that have no access to the Internet. We are here because we would like to promote openness. But we have not really raised the issue of how we could participate more fully and how we could have better access to the Internet.

We need to also protect tourists in our country. And I have to say that I am a Chinese citizen, and I feel that I need to be protected. For example, we are threatened by terrorism. We do need protection. So we should be sure that everyone can come to China, enjoy our beautiful country, and I heard with great interest what our Pakistani colleague said.

I don't think we should be using different standards to judge China. In China, we don't have software blocking Internet sites. Sometimes we have trouble accessing them. But that's a different problem. I know that some colleagues listen to the BBC in their offices from the Webcast. And I've heard people say that the BBC is not available in China or that it's blocked. I'm sure I don't know why people say this kind of thing. We do not have restrictions at all.

Nick Gowing, BBC anchor and session moderator: Would you like to elaborate on that?

Chinese official: How can I elaborate on it if we don't have any restrictions?

Some people say that there are journalists in China that have been arrested. We have hundreds of journalists in China, and some of them have legal problems. It has nothing to do with freedom of expression.

 

[tweakmm]

Yeah, we have hardware to take care of that.

 

[Howard]

Only hundreds of journalists?

 

[uhohs]

hilarious

 

[Bootprint]

Originally posted by: tweakmm
Yeah, we have hardware to take care of that.

or outsourced it to a another country.

 

[Pocatello]

Google is doing a good job for the Chinese gov already.

 

[Phoenix86]

Originally posted by: tweakmm
Yeah, we have hardware to take care of that.

Exactlly, it's much more effecient at the hardware level.

 

[Danman]

Since this was posted on Slashdot already, I am stealing someone elses comparison.

Regular google search for tiananmen square

Chinese Google search for the same thing.

Any one see the difference here?

 

[chcarnage]

Originally posted by: Pocatello
Google is doing a good job for the Chinese gov already.

I like the example somebody posted on slashdot:

Tiananmen Square @ Google.com
Tiananmen Square @ Google.cn

:|

// You beat me to it, Danman

 

[Danman]

^
||

Beat ya.

 

[Baked]

You start a riot, you deserve to get roll over by tanks. This ain't not sissy country like Canada.

 

[newParadigm]

Originally posted by: tweakmm
Yeah, we have hardware to take care of that.

QFTLOL

 

[irishScott]

Given that the Chinese didn't tell anyone about SARS for about 10 fricken years, internet censoring does not surprise me.

 

[Stiganator]

I was just their and you can't tell me they don't have restrictions. Several times a day, hotmail would get ganked. Sometimes searching for Tiananmen Square would terminate my connection for several minutes. They do indeed have restrictions.....or a very poorly implemented but well meaning firewall.

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: Baked
You start a riot, you deserve to get roll over by tanks. This ain't not sissy country like Canada.

When faced with tyranny, the only option is to suck it up, eh?

 

[Baked]

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: Baked
You start a riot, you deserve to get roll over by tanks. This ain't not sissy country like Canada.

When faced with tyranny, the only option is to suck it up, eh?

As any good communist party member should.

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: Baked

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: Baked
You start a riot, you deserve to get roll over by tanks. This ain't not sissy country like Canada.

When faced with tyranny, the only option is to suck it up, eh?

As any good communist party member should.

How do you know the protestors were Communists?

 

[EagleKeeper]

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: Baked

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: Baked
You start a riot, you deserve to get roll over by tanks. This ain't not sissy country like Canada.

When faced with tyranny, the only option is to suck it up, eh?

As any good communist party member should.

How do you know the protestors were Communists?

Check your sarcasm meter