China & the Internet: A Chronicle of Repression http://www.rsf.fr/chronicle.php3 Chronology Excerpts "... The adoption in 2000 of three drastic laws limiting the circulation of the information on the Web has allowed Beijing authorities to launch a wave of unprecedented repression against cyberdissidents and Internet sites considered "subversive" or "critical". Arrests, banned sites, threats against operators, censorship of newsgroups and the shutting-down of cybercafés are many techniques used in this daily repression. To accomplish this goal, about twenty provinces now have special police brigades trained in pursuing "subversive" Internet users. Just as the print media and electronic media, the Web has become a major issue for the Chinese regime who wishes to have full control of information. There are currently thirty cyberdissidents imprisoned in the country, for trying to break through this Internet repression and censorship. .... ...28 February 2001 : the Ministry of Law and Order launched a new software program known as "Internet police 110", created to block access to web sites dealing with religion, sex or violence. ... ...18 June 2001 : the online magazine "Hot Topic" is banned after four years of activity. This magazine notably published articles criticising the government. It has 235,000 subscribers.... ...2 July 2001 : RSF learned that Li Hongmin was arrested in the middle of June in Guangzhou (South of China) for having distributed, by e-mail, the 2001 Chinese version of "The Tiananmen Papers". The text reveals the responsibilities of certain high Chinese officials in the Tiananmen Square massacre of June 1989. ... ...4 July 2001 : The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs website (www.dfat.gov.au) is once again accessible in China after being blocked for eighteen months. The unblocking of the web site follows an appeal from the Australian Foreign Minister to China's chargé d'affaires in Canberra, Xie Xiaoyan. Inaccessible to Chinese Internet users for more than one year, the web site reappeared briefly during a visit of the Australian Communication Minister, Richard Alston, last June. The Chinese government spokeswoman denies any censorship and claims that technical problems caused the site to be blocked. In addition, she said "the government never got in the way of solving the problem and even offered its assistance". But, according to several observers, the real reason the site was blocked is the presence of information on the web site, notably about human rights and the risks of conflict in parts of China. ... ...1st August 2001 : Since the beginning of July, the pages in Mandarin Chinese on the Radio France Internationale (RFI) web site have been blocked for Chinese Internet users. These people can no longer listen to the programs of the Chinese service available on the site. RFI's executive direction plans to ask the Chinese government for some explanations. ... ...4 September 2001 : Chinese authorities have blocked the web sites of the American TV channel CNN, the newspaper International Herald Tribune, the French radio station RFI, the English radio station BBC and the American chapter of Amnesty International as well as some links to humanitarian organisations (such as Médecins sans frontières), as President Jiang Zemin is due to travel to North Korea. These media contain information about famine and repression in this country, which is an ally of Beijing. ... ...24 September 2001 : the following web sites are currently inaccessible from China : hrichina.org (Human Rights Watch in China web site), hrw.org (Human Right Watch web site), amnesty.org, amnesty.org.uk, amnestyusa.org (Amnesty International web sites), freetibet.org (freetibet organisation web site), tibet.com (Tibetan government in exile web site), cnn.com (CNN web site), bbc.co.uk (BBC web site), washingtonpost.com (Washington Post web site), 6-4tianwang.com (cyberdissident Huang Qi's web site) and bignews.com (Online dissident newsletter VIP Reference's web site). ... ...On 16 October, China unblocked access to several American media websites, among them those the New York Times and The Washington Post, during the Forum of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, which is being held in Shanghai. Access to other websites considered dangerous by the Chinese government, such as the BBC or the spiritual movement Falungong's websites, remain banned to Chinese web users as to Foreign journalists who cover the summit ... ...On 29th October, as soon as Georges W. Bush jetted out of Shangai, Chinese authorities again blocked access to several US media's websites, among them those of CNN and the Washington Post. ... ...04.25.2002 - The Australian television channel ABC announced on 23 April that the Chinese authorities had closed access to its web site. The management of the national television company have complained to Chinese Foreign Ministry and the Public Security Bureau. An Australian embassy official stated that the restrictions had been put in place following discussions at the highest level. This was immediately denied by a government spokesman. The Dalai Lama's visit to Australia in May this year could be the reason for these restrictive measures.... ...05.17.2002 - On 16 May, journalists based in Beijing and Shanghai noticed that web sites of international media, especially Reuters, CNN and the Washington Post, were again accessible to Chinese internet users. The authorities did not confirm this easing of censorship. However, sites for the BBC, Time Magazine and the Voice of America are still blocked to the Chinese. According to a western diplomat based in Beijing, quoted by the Reuters press agency, "The Chinese authorities may have realized that it was very easy to get around their barriers. It is certainly easier to let users access these sites then control the users."... ...01.16.2003 - For the past week, the authorities have blocked access to the US-based website blogspot.com, which puts personal diaries online and is used by more than a million people worldwide. Jason Shellen, who runs the site from California's Silicon Valley, confirmed that there were no technical problems and that it was censorship. But a Chinese Internet user told Reuters news agency that the ban would not succeed because people would find ways round it. The website managers say they will seek talks with the Chinese authorities.... ... A list of Chinese Internet users detained for having circulated information considered "subversive" by the authorities : 04.2002. Li Dawei 13.12.2001. Dong Yanhong 13.12.2001. Liu Wenyu 13.12.2001. Yao Yue 13.12.2001. Meng Jun 13.12.2001. Wang Xin 13.12.2001. Wang Xuefei 13.08.2001. Mu Chuanheng 11.07.2001. Yan Pen 2.06.2001. Wang Zhenyong 10.06.2001. Li Hongmin 14.05.2001. Wang Jinbo 18.05.2001. Hu Dalin 8.05.2001. Zhu Ruixiang 1.05.2001. Liu Haofeng 30.04.2001. Wang Sen 20.04.2001. Lu Xinhua 21.03.2001. Liu Weifang 13.03.2001. Jin Haike 13.03.2001. Zhang Honghai 13.03.2001. Xu Wei 13.03.2001. Yang Zili 11.10.2000. Zhang Haitao 8.10.2000. Zhang Ji 1.09.2000. Guo Quinghai 18.08.2000. Jiang Shihua 3.06.2000. Huang Qi 2.09.1999. Qi Yanchen 19.06.1999. Wu Yilong 19.06.1999. Zhu Yufu ..."