<http://online.wsj.com/article_print/0,,SB111153019822086799,00.html>
The Wall Street Journal March 23, 2005 REVIEW & OUTLOOK Another Chinese Internet Battle March 23, 2005 Yet another battle in the ongoing war between Chinese authorities and Internet freedoms has culminated with Beijing's Tsinghua University online-discussion forum being closed to non-students. Off-campus users, such as alumni, made up a large portion of the site's visitors, so the decision's impact will not be small. But this incident just shows once again that Chinese netizens will not be easily defeated. What is most notable about this recent repression attempt has been the Chinese reaction: The restriction of Tsinghua's forum has been followed by reports of protests, both virtual and real. Messages protesting the closing off of the forum have spread through the Chinese blogosphere, and there are photos circulating on the Internet that claim to be of protests by Tsinghua students. University online-discussion forums -- also known as BBS -- can create a vibrant outlet for both debate and the exchange of information, and it is hardly surprising that they would become a source of anxiety for Chinese authorities. According to the South China Morning Post, the first stage of the Tsinghua crackdown required all users to register under their true identities. Peking University's lively Yitahutu Web site, which had around 30,000 users, was shut down in September. But the closing off of Tsinghua's Web site will not succeed in quashing the flow of information, and may actually have the opposite effect. As explains Xiao Qiang, a Chinese Internet expert at the University of California at Berkeley: "It shows that the Hu-Wen regime is deeply insecure about the Internet. . . but also will definitely lose in the long run," he said, referring to President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. "Just watch how this kind of censorship action is pushing more people into the blogosphere, and an even more dynamic online information flow will emerge in coming years." As a case in point, Mr. Xiao adds that messages protesting the restriction of the Tsinghua BBS have spread through the Chinese blogosphere "like wildfire." The Chinese government realized that it needed to let in the Internet for economic reasons, but has since had to deal with a side-effect of this decision: The Internet has created a rare forum for freedom of virtual assembly and expression. The decision to close off Tsinghua's online discussion forum may be another example of the government frantically trying to shove the genie back in the bottle. But such attempts may just end up stirring up public resentment, and in the past, official attempts to clamp down on Internet expression or censor information have led Chinese netizens to think of new and creative ways to use technology to avoid censorship and gather online. The restriction of a popular campus Web site may at first glance look like this most recent battle was won by the authorities. But Chinese netizens have repeatedly shown that after having enjoyed the limited freedoms that the Internet provides, they're not content to simply watch those freedoms be taken away. -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' ------------------------ Yahoo! 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