FEBRUARY 6, 1996 (NB) -- In an attempt to keep some control on its
citizens use of the Internet, the People's Republic of China
on Sunday issued a new set of regulations aimed at frightening people away from
engaging in subversive activities, pornography and other forbidden actions on or via
the international computer network. To ensure complete control, the government said
all Internet links would run through its own computers and
is also planning to extend the law to its territories, including
Hong Kong.
The news was announced Sunday by way of Xinhua, the government's news agency, in
a report headlined "China Improves Computer
International Networking." The new regulations are part of the
"Provisional Regulations for the Management of International Networking with
Computer Information Networks of the People's Republic of
China" and will serve to ensure
"healthier development of the exchanges of international computer
information" according to the news agency.
The regulations were originally approved at the 42nd meeting of the State Council
on January 23 and were signed into law by China's Premier
Li Peng on February 1st.
The main provision of the regulations is the requirement that all international
links, with any computer network and not just the Internet,
for both inward and outward traffic, should run through the channels provided by the
Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT).
All existing networks are being forced into liquidation to emerge as managed
networks of the MPT, the Ministry of Electronics Industry, the State Education
Commission and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Specifically, new networks must satisfy four criteria, said Xinhua: they must
have "legal person status," "corresponding computer information
networks, equipment, technicians and management personnel," "perfect safety
and security control systems and technical protection measures, " and conform to
"other conditions conforming to relevant laws and regulations and relevant rules
of the State Council."
The regulations forbid the use of networks for activities that will harm the
state or its security and for "producing, retrieving, duplicating and spreading
information that may hinder public order, and obscene and pornographic
materials."
Persons ignoring the new regulations and attempting to operate international links
outside of the MPT's lines will not be tolerated, warned Xinhua, "Those who
violate the regulations or relevant laws and rules will be severely dealt with."
On January 16th the government moved to require all foreign news agencies selling
to China to submit all stories to Xinhua for approval before
dissemination.
China currently offers Internet
access to individuals via ChinaNet via its two points of presence in Beijing and
Shanghai. Reports suggest between 3,000 and 4,000 people currently have access via
ChinaNet. The network is also looking to expand to all of China'
s major cities soon. Educational establishments can use CASnet, the Chinese
Academic Network.
--Martyn Williams
Copyright © 1996 Newsbytes News Network.
DECEMBER 19, 2002 (AP) -- BEIJING -- An author whose banned writings
about China's poor appeared on activist Web sites abroad has been
detained in a crackdown on Internet-based dissent, a labor
rights group said Thursday.
Liao Yiwu, a 42-year-old novelist and poet, was detained Wednesday by
police in the southwestern city of Chengdu, New York-based China Labor
Watch said in a faxed statement. Chengdu police referred questions to
their press office, where phone calls weren't answered Thursday.
China promotes Internet use for business and education, and has tens
of millions of people online, but is trying to stamp out its use to
spread criticism of communist rule. Human rights groups say at
least 36 people -- including Liao -- have been detained in the
current crackdown.
Enduring poverty for hundreds of millions of Chinese is an especially
sensitive issue. The government worries about anything that might stir
growing public anger at the gap between the poor and the small urban
elite who benefit most from economic reform. Liao's articles about
the poor are banned in China but have been published abroad by
literary magazines and political Web sites, China Labor Watch said.
"He is the only writer who is concerned with the lowest stratum of
China's masses," the group said.
Copyright © 2002 Associated Press.