Cracking the Great Firewall:
Free Speech in China
  Cracking the Great Firewall - Free Speech in China  

Status of Free Speech
The Chinese government has a well-known checkered record with regards to human rights. Despite breakneck economic reforms (WTO negotiations), the government is holding onto its power and resisting taking steps in social reform. At the bottom of the page, there are many human rights resources for China.
China's New Great Wall
China's Internet use has increased to 48 million users in 2002, from 2 million in 1998 (according to CINIC: China Internet Network Information Center). This is a major step forward for freedom of speech. However, the government has found ways to limit this freedom. It is estimated that 30,000 people are employed by the Chinese government to filter and monitor their citizens' usage of the Internet.

1999
China clamps down on early news and chat services. The dissidents start to exploit the Internet as a communication medium.

2001
Foreign technology investment in China is starting to take off. Yahoo gives in to the governments wishes. Chinese reformers make a declaration of Internet rights for Chinese citizens.

2002
China's great firewall continues to get upgrades. The government also continues to block access from time-to-time of uncensored foreign sites (eg Google) This article focusses on the stifling of the Chinese info-economy but presents many details about the filtering.
Article 19
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

from the UN Declaration of Human Rights












I have no interest in pushing my beliefs on anybody. However, I believe that freedom of speech is a basic right which empowers all people to determine their own destinies. How can we know what others want until they are able to speak freely? The Internet must be shared with all!


What are your views? Please write to me!
chris_robson@canada.com


Circumventing the Great Firewall
Google describes redirections, blockages, and filtrations of their search content. Recently, mirrors have been created.

See if your site is blocked by the Chinese government using this site created at Harvard. Adjust it until it isn't.

From inside China, a proxy server can be used to access outside sites. The proxy server obscures the site you are trying to obtain. Anonymizer.com is a good example but is unfortunately already blocked by the government.

The Cult-of-Dead-Cow hacker group has made a declaration of hactivismo in support of human rights. They are designing several programs to get through the Chinese government's filters. Other hacker groups, like the Hong Kong Blondes, are focussed on disturbing the Chinese governments activities should they pull any extreme 'digital crackdowns'.

Even our own cryptography usage and regulations could have an effect overseas. Should strong cryptography a human right? Even our own governments aren't keen about it because it gives us so much freedom.

Human Rights in China
Here's the Chinese governments official human rights page. Here's a leading (uncensored) Chinese human rights site.

There are sites around the world advocating for free speech in China and showing support for those emprisoned in China for their beliefs. Here is a leading SanFran site and here is a leading Hong Kong site. Chinese V.I.P. Reference is a Chinese language site offering daily updates on human rights.

Well-known international societies, like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have extensive files on China.

Here are a set of photos from the Tiannamen Square democracy protests in 1989. Here are US embassy reports from Beijing as the massacre was happening.

The largest targetted group of people in China recently, has been the Falun Gong practitioners. This was a brilliant stunt pulled by Falun Gong supporters.

There are many site focussed on particular rights, including religious freedom, prisoners' rights, and labour rights.

China's Great (Fire)wall
Is the Chinese government using its great wall
to keep foreigners out, or to keep the Chinese people in?




















chris_robson@canada.com