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China Reopens Tiananmen Square, Blocks Access to Internet Sites
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By Mark Lee
June 4 (Bloomberg) -- China reopened Tiananmen Square to the public this morning after ringing the area with metal fences overnight to stop people from commemorating the 20th anniversary of the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators.
Visitors to the square, located next to Beijing’s Forbidden City, must pass through an X-ray machine, and the use of cameras is being monitored by security forces. China’s government has also restricted access to overseas Web sites that have become virtual town squares for political dissent.
Twitter Inc.’s social-networking service and Microsoft Corp.’s Bing.com search engine were among 115 Internet sites rendered inaccessible in the past week, according to Herdict.org, which compiles reports of Web outages. China is the No. 1 country for such censorship, said Herdict, a project of Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society.
“This was the first time so many big sites all went down all at once,” said Jeremy Goldkorn, founder of Danwei.org, a China-based blog focused on the media and Internet industries. “The government doesn’t want any messing around.” The clampdown extended to television broadcasts as CNN went blank in Beijing and Shanghai during segments on the crushing of the 1989 protests. Censors cut out articles on the anniversary from foreign newspapers, including the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post and the Financial Times, before they were delivered in China. Student demonstrators calling for government reform and an end to corruption occupied Tiananmen Square in the heart of the Chinese capital for five weeks in the spring of 1989. Between the evening of June 3 and the early hours of June 4 of that year, soldiers backed by tanks opened fire on civilians in and around the square.
‘Early Warning System’
China bans public assembly without permits and all discussion of the 1989 demonstrations, prompting Web users to gather on social-networking services such as Twitter and Facebook. Premier Wen Jiabao said March 5 that China will improve its “early warning system for social stability” and actively prevent “mass incidents.” Authorities have also tightened surveillance over government critics in the run-up to June 4 while two leaders of the 1989 student movement were denied entry to Macau and Hong Kong, according to reports yesterday by the Associated Press and the South China Morning Post.
Clinton Comments
China’s ruling Communist Party controls all domestic media and blocks access to Web sites that criticize its rule or publish articles deemed unfavorable. The party bars public discussion of the 1989 protests. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday urged China’s government to “examine openly the darker events of its past and provide a public accounting of those killed, detained or missing,” according to a State Department statement. Estimates of the number of deaths vary. Beijing’s mayor said in a 1989 report to the government that about 200 civilians died, while the U.S. Embassy in the city estimated that the death toll exceeded 1,000. Tiananmen Mothers, a Beijing-based group of family members of victims, has verified 195 deaths. Internet users have employed code words to circumvent government monitoring. Messages circulated on San Francisco- based Twitter in recent weeks asking Internet users in China to turn their Web logs gray to commemorate the crackdown, referring to it as “May 35th,” “535” or “VIIV” -- Roman numerals signifying June 4.
‘Difficult to Control’
“The Internet, compared with other media, is more difficult to control,” said Jack Qiu, an assistant professor at the school of Journalism and Communication at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. “It’s impossible for the government to exercise 100 percent control on the Internet, like they do over traditional media, as Web users always come up with ever- innovative ways to skirt the rules.” With an estimated 316 million users, China has the world’s biggest Internet population after passing the U.S. in the first half of last year. The government routinely steps up Web monitoring at politically sensitive times such as the annual meeting of the National People’s Congress, Qiu said. Besides the Tiananmen crackdown, this year marks the 50th anniversary of Chinese rule in Tibet and the 60th since the founding of the People’s Republic of China. “This whole year will be a bit stressful until October, with the 60th anniversary,” Danwei’s Goldkorn said. “There will be a squeeze on the Internet until that’s over.”
Official Silence
Liu Zhengrong, the State Council Information Office Internet Affairs Bureau’s deputy director general, didn’t answer calls to his office yesterday. The Chinese government bureau hasn’t responded to a faxed request for comment on Internet censorship sent three days ago. China’s government has defended the crackdown by pointing to the country’s record of economic development since 1989. The economy expanded 17-fold by 2008 to become the world’s third largest. Wu’er Kaixi, the second most-wanted student leader during the protests, was denied entry yesterday to the southern Chinese city of Macau, AP reported. Wu’er said he traveled to Macau from Taipei to turn himself in to authorities, AP said. Xiang Xiaoji, another leader of the movement, was denied entry into Hong Kong and put on a flight back to New York, the South China Morning Post said yesterday.
‘Borderless Media’
Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous region of China with its own legal system and a constitution that includes guarantees of free speech, is the only city on Chinese soil that commemorates those killed in the crackdown. The Apple Daily newspaper was among Hong Kong-based Web sites that were inaccessible in mainland China yesterday. “The Internet is a borderless media, and China can only control what takes place within its borders,” said Louis Leung, associate professor at Chinese University of Hong Kong’s journalism school. “Dissidents can organize protests offshore, and can always come up with ways to import them to the country.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Lee Wai Yee in Hong Kong at [email protected].
Share | Email | Print | A A A
By Mark Lee
June 4 (Bloomberg) -- China reopened Tiananmen Square to the public this morning after ringing the area with metal fences overnight to stop people from commemorating the 20th anniversary of the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators.
Visitors to the square, located next to Beijing’s Forbidden City, must pass through an X-ray machine, and the use of cameras is being monitored by security forces. China’s government has also restricted access to overseas Web sites that have become virtual town squares for political dissent.
Twitter Inc.’s social-networking service and Microsoft Corp.’s Bing.com search engine were among 115 Internet sites rendered inaccessible in the past week, according to Herdict.org, which compiles reports of Web outages. China is the No. 1 country for such censorship, said Herdict, a project of Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society.
“This was the first time so many big sites all went down all at once,” said Jeremy Goldkorn, founder of Danwei.org, a China-based blog focused on the media and Internet industries. “The government doesn’t want any messing around.” The clampdown extended to television broadcasts as CNN went blank in Beijing and Shanghai during segments on the crushing of the 1989 protests. Censors cut out articles on the anniversary from foreign newspapers, including the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post and the Financial Times, before they were delivered in China. Student demonstrators calling for government reform and an end to corruption occupied Tiananmen Square in the heart of the Chinese capital for five weeks in the spring of 1989. Between the evening of June 3 and the early hours of June 4 of that year, soldiers backed by tanks opened fire on civilians in and around the square.
‘Early Warning System’
China bans public assembly without permits and all discussion of the 1989 demonstrations, prompting Web users to gather on social-networking services such as Twitter and Facebook. Premier Wen Jiabao said March 5 that China will improve its “early warning system for social stability” and actively prevent “mass incidents.” Authorities have also tightened surveillance over government critics in the run-up to June 4 while two leaders of the 1989 student movement were denied entry to Macau and Hong Kong, according to reports yesterday by the Associated Press and the South China Morning Post.
Clinton Comments
China’s ruling Communist Party controls all domestic media and blocks access to Web sites that criticize its rule or publish articles deemed unfavorable. The party bars public discussion of the 1989 protests. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday urged China’s government to “examine openly the darker events of its past and provide a public accounting of those killed, detained or missing,” according to a State Department statement. Estimates of the number of deaths vary. Beijing’s mayor said in a 1989 report to the government that about 200 civilians died, while the U.S. Embassy in the city estimated that the death toll exceeded 1,000. Tiananmen Mothers, a Beijing-based group of family members of victims, has verified 195 deaths. Internet users have employed code words to circumvent government monitoring. Messages circulated on San Francisco- based Twitter in recent weeks asking Internet users in China to turn their Web logs gray to commemorate the crackdown, referring to it as “May 35th,” “535” or “VIIV” -- Roman numerals signifying June 4.
‘Difficult to Control’
“The Internet, compared with other media, is more difficult to control,” said Jack Qiu, an assistant professor at the school of Journalism and Communication at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. “It’s impossible for the government to exercise 100 percent control on the Internet, like they do over traditional media, as Web users always come up with ever- innovative ways to skirt the rules.” With an estimated 316 million users, China has the world’s biggest Internet population after passing the U.S. in the first half of last year. The government routinely steps up Web monitoring at politically sensitive times such as the annual meeting of the National People’s Congress, Qiu said. Besides the Tiananmen crackdown, this year marks the 50th anniversary of Chinese rule in Tibet and the 60th since the founding of the People’s Republic of China. “This whole year will be a bit stressful until October, with the 60th anniversary,” Danwei’s Goldkorn said. “There will be a squeeze on the Internet until that’s over.”
Official Silence
Liu Zhengrong, the State Council Information Office Internet Affairs Bureau’s deputy director general, didn’t answer calls to his office yesterday. The Chinese government bureau hasn’t responded to a faxed request for comment on Internet censorship sent three days ago. China’s government has defended the crackdown by pointing to the country’s record of economic development since 1989. The economy expanded 17-fold by 2008 to become the world’s third largest. Wu’er Kaixi, the second most-wanted student leader during the protests, was denied entry yesterday to the southern Chinese city of Macau, AP reported. Wu’er said he traveled to Macau from Taipei to turn himself in to authorities, AP said. Xiang Xiaoji, another leader of the movement, was denied entry into Hong Kong and put on a flight back to New York, the South China Morning Post said yesterday.
‘Borderless Media’
Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous region of China with its own legal system and a constitution that includes guarantees of free speech, is the only city on Chinese soil that commemorates those killed in the crackdown. The Apple Daily newspaper was among Hong Kong-based Web sites that were inaccessible in mainland China yesterday. “The Internet is a borderless media, and China can only control what takes place within its borders,” said Louis Leung, associate professor at Chinese University of Hong Kong’s journalism school. “Dissidents can organize protests offshore, and can always come up with ways to import them to the country.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Lee Wai Yee in Hong Kong at [email protected].
