China Archives - Page 2 of 2

Censorship as punishment?

25 June, 2009 by sky Leave a Comment

I noted this BoingBoing report that China^[1] blocked all Google services yesterday^[2] for a time and that it seemed to be punishment for Google not blocking access to certain sites or types of sites that the Chinese state disapproves of. And rumors that this was all intended to divert attention from the Green Dam incident that took place last week.

[1] I say “China” but there are forces acting within China that are actually quite highly opposed to each other and in conflict.

[2] Here’s the source report in The Guardian. And a quote:

Earlier in the day, the main state and communist party media – Xinhua and People’s Daily – condemned Google for providing links to pornographic websites through its search engine. Last week, the government ordered the US company to halt foreign website searches as a punishment.

See also my notes on China’s Golden Shield.

China requires that all new computers contain censoring software

10 June, 2009 by sky 1 Comment

The debate continues around the world about whether computers should be required to blacklist porn and other sites, and now according to a New York Times report China will require pre-installed software on all new PCs that permits the government to proscribe sites that would be harmful to web surfers. If recent history is any guide, this means censoring sites that speak out against government policies or against corruption. [Update: China Backs down^[1]…read footnote in the expanded post] [Read more…]

Chatting our way to World Peace

16 March, 2009 by sky Leave a Comment

When I made my first trip to Dharamsala, India, in 2005, to see this hub of activity of the Tibetan exile community and the home of the Dalai Lama, I was hosted by Thubten Samdup. “Sam” is founder of the Canada Tibet Committee and an activist in the exile community. He lives in Montréal. When he’s not traveling, that is.

One of Sam’s recent projects (it’s a couple of years old now) involves a group of Chinese-speaking (reading and writing as well) Tibetans who live in Dharamsala and spend their time chatting with people inside China. About what it is to be a part of the Tibetan culture and how it relates to the rest of China. It’s an actual project with financial supporters and employees, and you can contact me if you’re interested in helping support it. Sam also spends a lot of time in the Tibetan exile settlements in the rest of India, but that’s another story.