DATE=8/6/98
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-41093
TITLE=CHINA / INTERNET
BYLINE=GRACE CUTLER
DATELINE=HONG KONG
CONTENT=
VOICED AT: 

INTRO:  IN CHINA, THE WORLD-WIDE WEB IS AN INCREASINGLY POWERFUL 
INFORMATION TOOL, THAT HAS BECOME ESPECIALLY USEFUL FOR 
DISSIDENTS.  BUT AS GRACE CUTLER REPORTS FROM HONG KONG, HUMAN 
RIGHTS GROUPS SAY THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT HAS IMPLEMENTED WAYS TO 
CONTROL THE FLOW OF BANNED NEWS AND INFORMATION INTO THE COUNTRY.

TEXT:  THE INTERNET IN CHINA MAY BE ONLY THREE-YEARS OLD, BUT 
ALREADY IT IS BEING WIDELY USED FOR NEWS AND ENTERTAINMENT, AND 
TO CONDUCT BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS.  ONE-POINT-FOUR-MILLION PEOPLE 
USE THE INTERNET, AND BY THE YEAR 2002 ITS IS ESTIMATED 
11-POINT-FIVE-MILLION USERS WILL BE LOGGING ONTO THE NET.  

IN THE COUNTRY WITH THE WORLD'S LARGEST POPULATION, THE BEIJING 
GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESSES ARE SEEING AN AWESOME POTENTIAL AND ARE
CULTIVATING THIS BURGEONING INDUSTRY .

AS TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES  MAKE COMPUTERS CHEAPER AND FASTER,  
THE ABILITY TO CONTROL THE FLOW OF INCOMING INFORMATION HAS 
BECOME HARDER.  GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS CANNOT EASILY BLOCK 
PRO-DEMOCRACY WRITINGS OR UNFAVORABLE NEWS.

FRANK LU OF THE HONG KONG BASED INFORMATION CENTER OF HUMAN 
RIGHTS AND DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT IN CHINA, SAYS MANY DISSIDENTS 
RELY ON THE INTERNET TO GET DAILY INFORMATION NOT ACCESSIBLE 
THROUGH OTHER MEANS.

                          // LU ACT //

         IT IS VERY COMMON FOR DISSIDENTS IN THE MAINLAND TO USE 
         THE INTERNET TO GET INFORMATION, SUCH AS VERY FAMOUS 
         DISSIDENTS, XU WEN-LI, REN WAN-DIN, AND QIN YUNG-MIN AND
         EVERYDAY E-MAIL AND THEY GET MANY, MANY UPDATES AND VERY
         IMPORTANT NEWS.

                          // END ACT //

MR. LU SAYS THE GOVERNMENT IS DETERMINED TO PREVENT THE USE OF 
THE INTERNET AS A TOOL TO CHALLENGE COMMUNIST PARTY AUTHORITY.  
AS AN EXAMPLE, HE NOTES THE CASE OF LIN HAI, A COMPUTER SOFTWARE 
COMPANY MANAGER IN SHANGHAI, WHO WAS ARRESTED FOR PROVIDING 
30-THOUSAND CHINESE E-MAIL ADDRESSES TO A U-S BASED INTERNET 
DEMOCRACY MAGAZINE.  NEXT MONTH, MR. LIN WILL FACE CHARGES OF 
INCITING THE OVERTHROW OF STATE POWER.  SIMILAR CHARGES WERE 
LODGED AGAINST FORMERLY IMPRISONED PRO-DEMOCRACY LEADERS, WAN DAN
AND WEI JING SHENG.

THE INTERNET IS HIGHLY REGULATED IN CHINA.  THE GOVERNMENT HAS 
SET STRICT GUIDELINES FOR INTERNET SERVICE AND ACCESS PROVIDERS. 
ELECTRONIC INFORMATION COMING INTO THE COUNTRY IS FUNNELED 
THROUGH INFORMATION CHANNELS CALLED GATEWAYS, WHICH ALLOW IT TO 
BE MONITORED OR BLOCKED. 

BUT A SENIOR ANALYST AT INTERNATIONAL DATA CORPORATION, PETE 
HITCHEN, SAYS THERE ARE MANY MORE WAYS TO GET AROUND THE SYSTEM 
THAN THERE ARE TO BLOCK CONTENT. 

SOMETIMES METHODS FOR BYPASSING THE GATEWAYS ARE EVEN HUMOROUS, 
SUCH AS DESIGNATING AN INTERNET SITE BY PICKING UP ON THE HABIT 
OF SOME CANADIANS TO SPRINKLE THE SYLLABLE "EH" THROUGHOUT THEIR 
CONVERSATION FOR EMPHASIS.  

                        // HITCHEN ACT //

         ONE WAY THAT IS COMMONLY KNOWN AS CANADIANIZING CONTENT.
         THIS IS, FOR INSTANCE, IF THERE IS A SITE CALLED 
         DEMOCRACY.COM.  THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT SEES IT, THEY SAY
         ALL RIGHT WE ARE BLACK LISTING THAT SITE.  BUT WHAT THE 
         PROVIDERS DO IS THAT THEY PUT DEMOCRACY 'EH'  DEMOCRACY 
         E-H.COM AND OF COURSE THAT DOES NOT GET BLACKLISTED AND 
         THE PEOPLE WITHIN CHINA CAN QUITE EASILY PICK UP THESE 
         SITES.

                          // END ACT //

TO STEM THE FLOW OF PRO-DEMOCRACY MATERIALS AND OTHER SENSITIVE 
SUBJECT MATTER, SUCH AS PORNOGRAPHY, THE CHINA-WIDE WEB HAS BEEN 
INTRODUCED.  OFFICIALS ARE PROMOTING THE SYSTEM FOR USERS IN 
CHINA.

MR. HITCHEN SAYS THE DATA ON THE CHINA-WIDE WEB VARIES FROM 
MATERIAL FOUND ON THE WORLD-WIDE WEB.

                        // HITCHEN ACT //

         THE TYPE OF INFORMATION AND RANGE OF INFORMATION FLOWING
         AROUND WITHIN THE CHINA-WIDE WEB WOULD BE VERY WHOLESOME
         VERY GOVERNMENT ORIENTATED SORT OF PROMOTING INDUSTRY 
         ETC.  AND OBVIOUSLY THAT DIFFERS WILDLY FROM WHAT 
         CONTENT YOU CAN SEE ON THE COMMERCIAL WORLD-WIDE WEB.

                          // END ACT //

WHILE OFFICIALS SEE THE CHINA-WIDE WEB AS SUPPORTING GOVERNMENT 
POLICIES AND HELPING TO INSURE STABILITY.  BUT CRITICS OF SUCH AN
INSULATED SYSTEM SAY IT NOT ONLY STEMS THE FREE FLOW OF 
INFORMATION, BUT COULD ALSO HURT CHINA ECONOMICALLY, PUTTING 
USERS AT A DISADVANTAGE BY BARRING DATA THAT COULD HELP PROMOTE 
BUSINESS.   (SIGNED)

NEB/GC/FC/RAE

06-Aug-98 7:15 AM EDT (1115 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.