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US raises China filter amid business concern: official
Washington (AFP) June 22, 2009 The United States raised concerns to China about its new rule requiring Internet filtering software in computers after US businesses voiced unease, a US official said Monday. Computer makers have been told that all personal computers sold from July 1 must be shipped with anti-pornography software, a move that trade and rights groups say is a bid by Beijing to further tighten Internet controls. In Beijing, US embassy spokesman Richard Buangan told AFP that US officials met with Chinese authorities on Friday to address concerns about the software. A US official said in Washington that the appeal came in part due to worries by US computer makers. "A lot of our diplomacy overseas is responding to American business," the official said on condition of anonymity. He said computer makers "don't like that kind of mandate" that China is imposing on them. "I wouldn't want to be the one making profits in the name of helping censorship," the official said. "Dell doesn't want to be known as the computer company that helps filter the Internet." With the world's largest online population of nearly 300 million people, China has a history of blocking sites it deems politically unacceptable or offensive, a system that is dubbed the "Great Firewall of China." Overseas and domestic Internet users have viewed the new software rule as an attempt by China to filter sensitive websites, but state-run press has defended it as necessary to prevent youngsters from accessing pornographic websites. It has also pointed out that users can choose whether or not to load the software -- called Green Dam Youth Escort -- onto their computers. Share This Article With Planet Earth
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Hong Kong's Foreign Correspondents' Club turns 60Hong Kong (AFP) June 22, 2009 Hong Kong's Foreign Correspondents' Club this month celebrates 60 years in the southern Chinese city, and the institution remains a noisy bastion of free speech, gossip and hard drinking. Set up on June 23 or June 25, 1949 -- there are conflicting records -- the FCC was a refuge for correspondents expelled from China after the Communist Party seized power and closed the Shanghai club. ... read more |
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