------ Forwarded Message > From: sunny s <sun...@cox.net> > Reply-To: <artbellt...@yahoogroups.com> > Date: Wed, 20 Jan 2010 10:34:26 -0000 > To: <artbellt...@yahoogroups.com> > Subject: [ArtBellTalk] What Internet? China region cut off 6 months now > > What Internet? China region cut off 6 months now > > > By CARA ANNA > > > LIUYUAN, China (AP) - They arrive at this gritty desert crossroads weary from > a 13-hour train ride but determined. The promised land lies just across the > railway station plaza: a large, white sign that says "Easy Connection Internet > Cafe." > > The visitors are Internet refugees from China's western Xinjiang region, whose > 20 million people have been without links to the outside world since the > government blocked virtually all online access, text messages and > international phone calls after ethnic riots in July. It's the largest and > longest such blackout in the world, observers say. > > Every weekend, dozens of people pile off the train in Liuyuan, a sandswept > town on the ancient Silk Road that's the first train stop outside Xinjiang, > 400 miles (650 kilometers) east of Urumqi, the regional capital. > > "We must get online! We must!" said Zhao Yan, a petite, ponytailed > businesswoman from Xinjiang's capital, Urumqi. She has rented the same private > booth in the Internet cafe every weekend since August in an uphill battle to > keep her small trading business going. > > > "If this goes on another couple of months, I'll have to give up," Zhao said. > "I can't keep up with the outside world, and I'm losing money." > > Xinjiang residents are without Internet links unless they flee to farflung > places like Liuyuan. One customer had traveled 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) > just to get online. > > Authorities unplugged Xinjiang, a sprawling area three times the size of > Texas, in an attempt to prevent a repeat of the ethnic rioting between the Han > Chinese majority and the mainly Muslim Uighur minority that the government > says left almost 200 dead. China's government blamed overseas activists for > the riots, saying they stirred up resentment in the Uighur community through > Web sites and e-mails. > > For many, it feels like being thrown back in time 30 years. > > REST OF STORY AT: > > http://apnews.excite.com/article/20100120/D9DBAUTG0.html > > > > > > ------------------------------------ > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > >
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