Posted on 09/10/2006 6:57:08 PM PDT by george76
China tightened its control over the distribution of news by foreign agencies Sunday, further restricting international access to the already tightly regulated Chinese media market.
The new measures took effect immediately upon being issued by the state Xinhua News Agency.
The regulations give Xinhua broad authority over foreign news agencies, requiring them to distribute stories, photos and other services solely through Xinhua or entities authorized by Xinhua.
The rules would affect The Associated Press, Reuters and other foreign news agencies seeking wider access to the rapidly expanding Chinese market. It was unclear how other news organizations would be affected.
Under a decade-old set of regulations, foreign news agencies were allowed limited distribution of financial data and other information - deals that the new rules appear to rule out.
The tighter restrictions underscore how the Communist Party's political agenda and Xinhua's business interests are coinciding.
President Hu Jintao's leadership has sought to rein in state-controlled media that have strayed from party dictates in search of profits and market share.
Journalists and editors have been fired and arrested.
As part of its new powers, Xinhua also will police the distribution of news in the mainland by agencies from Hong Kong, a former British colony now ruled by China but that operates under separate laws and with a free press. It also affects agencies in Taiwan, which Beijing claims but does not control.
Under the rules, any reports that disrupt "China's economic and social order or undermine China's social stability" will be banned as will news that undermines the country's "national unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity,"...
"Foreign news agencies shall not directly solicit subscription of their news and information services in China," ...
(Excerpt) Read more at examiner.com ...
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And still, according to folks both in and outside The People Republic-- China is the next economic super-power and a great place to invest your money. Right.
China tightens controls on foreign news - while democrats tightens control on domestic news - i.e., Socialism reigns supreme
a photo taken at an official DNC fundraiser with Bill and Hillary posed with Ng Lap Seng, Macau Crime Lord who controls Prostitution in that region.
His Fortuna Hotel is actually a high class bordello where young girls (often underage) are available for a price. Ng, through his American contact Charlie Trie, donated close to a million dollars to the Democrats.
Anybody know if FreeRepublic is blocked in the People's Paradise of China?
don't kid yourself that it's just one party that shuts down news it doesn't like.
"Anybody know if Free Republic is blocked in the People's Paradise of China?"
Most likely as Red China filters all in and out Internet traffic for words such as:
democracy
freedom
constitution
Tiananmen Square
human rights
etc.
Some posters here have used such terms.
The Red China government is cracking down on internal rights and backing off all the deals made to get most favored nation trade status and world trade status. It thinks, rightly, the west is so greedy for cheap products and doing business there we won't react. I bet half of the US State Dept and many moles in government and business are on the Red China pay or blackmail list.
Making Red China wealthy was foolish beyond words.
Yes.
A wealthy pimp from China.
The timing is not a coincidence.
In my HUMBLEST and most honest opinion, there is more individual liberty available in China than there is in America today, as long as you keep your head down.
OSHA, IRS, EPA, USDA, EEOC will all come down on a small-business American and put him in the poorhouse for not hiring a lawyer.
In China, if you start a business and are making $150k/yr and don't have a Cindy Sheehan LoudMouth, you can do anything you want, if you don't step on anyone's toes, then the government doesn't have time to bother you.
But let's just look down our nose at a Chinaman's lack of "free speech." Yeah, we're soooo much better here where we don't put reporters in jail, but we put people that try to oppose the New York Times in jail.
It is going to get worse.
IMHO.
I have read and posted on FR in Shanghai, Xiamen, Shenzhen, Zhongshan, and of course, Hong Kong. I have used open WiFi nets in various airports, cafes, etc. I have purchased one-time WiFi access cards at Starbucks in Shanghai and Hong Kong.
I have done some traceroute tests and I believe that there is some serious POP3 at least snooping, possibly filtering, going on in some of the Shanghai hotels I have stayed at. But the result was the same as not getting email in some Napa Valley hotels, I just couldn't download my emails reliably. But I eventually did, and nothing was ever altered or kicked out. I can assure you that I have had much more internet trouble in the UK and France than anywhere else in the world.
And I have NEVER been unable to use web-based email in China --or-- FR.
If you read this press release, and you know something about Chinese culture, you can see that this might POSSIBLY just be a CCP bluster. Note that these guys claim the same rules apply to TAIWAN though you and I know that China can't do a damn thing about Taiwan internet traffic (yet!)
But finally, let me remind you that CHINESE is probably the LEAST MACHINE READABLE LANGUAGE IN THE WORLD. You can't just filter on "words" like Ricochet suggests, because the Unicode and various implementations of chinese character sets, obfuscated further by various Chinese dialects and SLANG, makes the CCP censor's job pretty damn complicated to begin with, and then add to that the totally wrecked/heterogenous internet topology and LEAKS**(satellite internet connections, for example), and then consider trying to physically FIND and ARREST someone playing internet/FR in China, and I think you might see that it'd be much easier and effective for Hillary! to shut down FR with a stroke of the (fair use, fairness doctrine) pen than it would be to shut it down in China.
That's my view and my experience, your mileage may vary!
**Think about email replication for a second. Imagine China turned off the internet completely tomorrow. How many SD memory cards and laptops fly on commercial flights in and out of Beijing or Shanghai every day? Information is SMALL these days.
Thanks.
This is interesting.
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Going over, I thought of China as "The Langoliers" eating up everything in the world and demarcating the end of time for America.
Coming back, I now see China as a massive combine in a field, driven by a drunk farmer's kid! Can certainly kill you if you stand still, but easy enough to deal with if you keep your head about you.
On FR, that attitude gets me labeled as a WalMart/communist apologist. In actuality, it really shows that I still believe in "American Exceptionalism."
Your in country view is very valuable to me, at least.
China appears to be a very complex country. I was there right after the gang of four were removed. Most people were still wearing their pjs and riding the swan bikes.
It was fun to talk to the average people when the communists were not listening. They wanted to be successful but had to be careful not to be too open about it.
Ah yes, the old "Pre-Starbucks" Chinese era! =)
Another good read (getting a bit dated, showing some of his predictions to be false) is "The Coming Collapse of China"
Especially a Communist pimp. Birds of a feather...
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