The Internet was supposed to foster democracy. China has different ideas.; Washington Post, 7/10/16

Simon Denyer, Washington Post; The Internet was supposed to foster democracy. China has different ideas. :

"President Xi says he wants an Internet that is “clear and bright” but in April told leaders of the country’s top Internet companies, as well as officials and academics, that he did not want to shut down criticism entirely.

Indeed, he called for “more tolerance and patience” toward netizens and said he welcomed online criticism “whether mild or fierce,” as long as it arises from goodwill, the People’s Daily reported.

Authorities then apparently censored negative reactions to his speech on social media."

Bookseller abductions: China demands Lam Wing-kee return from Hong Kong; Reuters via Guardian, 7/5/16

Reuters via Guardian; Bookseller abductions: China demands Lam Wing-kee return from Hong Kong:

"A statement issued by the Ningbo Public Security Bureau said Lam had broken his bail terms by failing to return to the mainland for further investigation after his initial eight months in detention, Hong Kong’s Ming Pao newspaper reported.

Lam was one of five booksellers whose disappearances over the past year have been linked to the Causeway Bay Books store that had specialised in publishing and selling books about China’s leaders, including President Xi Jinping...

The disappearances have prompted fears that mainland Chinese authorities may be using tactics that erode the “one country, two systems” formula under which Hong Kong has been governed since its return to China from British rule in 1997."

Chinese activist's family 'taken away' over letter calling for Xi Jinping to quit; Reuters via Guardian, 3/26/16

Reuters via Guardian; Chinese activist's family 'taken away' over letter calling for Xi Jinping to quit:

"A New York-based Chinese activist has said that China’s authorities have detained three members of his family in connection with an open letter calling for the resignation of president Xi Jinping.

Speaking from New York, Wen Yunchao said his parents and younger brother were “taken away” by the authorities on Tuesday and have disappeared, days after the government “harassed” his family over his suspected involvement in distributing the letter...

President Xi has embarked on an unprecedented effort to clamp down on the internet and censor opinions that do not reflect those of Communist Party leaders, including by imposing tougher penalties for what the Chinese government calls spreading rumours."

China bans depictions of gay people on television; Guardian, 3/4/16

Hannah Ellis-Petersen, Guardian; China bans depictions of gay people on television:

"The Chinese government has banned all depictions of gay people on television, as part of a cultural crackdown on “vulgar, immoral and unhealthy content”.

Chinese censors have released new regulations for content that “exaggerates the dark side of society” and now deem homosexuality, extramarital affairs, one night stands and underage relationships as illegal on screen...

The government said the show contravened the new guidelines, which state that “No television drama shall show abnormal sexual relationships and behaviours, such as incest, same-sex relationships, sexual perversion, sexual assault, sexual abuse, sexual violence, and so on.”

The ban also extends to smoking, drinking, adultery, sexually suggestive clothing, even reincarnation. China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television told television producers it would constantly monitor TV channels to ensure the new rules were strictly adhered to.

The clampdown follows an increase in cultural censorship in China since Xi Jinping came to power in November 2012."

Chinese journalist banned from flying to US to accept a prize for his work; Guardian, 2/15/16

Tom Phillips, Guardian; Chinese journalist banned from flying to US to accept a prize for his work:

"Since Xi Jinping came to power in late 2012 academics, journalists, authors, lawyers and activists have all complained of increasing pressure from authorities.

Experts say many talented young Chinese journalists are abandoning the profession, partly because of their frustration at intensifying censorship.

Historians meanwhile complain that securing access to government archives containing material about sensitive periods such as the Great Famine has become increasingly difficult.

In the introduction to the English edition of his book, Yang said his 15-year inquiry into the famine was an attempt to expose how a totalitarian system had attempted to forcibly eradicate all memory of the disaster.

“A tombstone is memory made concrete. Human memory is the ladder on which a country and a people advance,” he wrote. “I erect this tombstone so that people will remember and henceforth renounce man-made calamity, darkness and evil.”"

Here's How China's Trying To Rewrite The Rules Of The Global Internet; Huffington Post, 12/16/15

Matt Sheehan, Huffington Post; Here's How China's Trying To Rewrite The Rules Of The Global Internet:

"The eastern Chinese city of Wuzhen will host the second World Internet Conference, which starts Wednesday and continues through Friday, with President Xi Jinping giving the keynote speech. The conference is part of an ambitious Chinese effort to redefine debates over cybersecurity, national sovereignty and censorship.

In recent years, Chinese leaders have pushed the idea of "cyber sovereignty" -- the notion that each country's government should maintain independent control over what content is available online within its own borders. Numerous countries censor online content they deem illegal, but cyber sovereignty takes on a new dimension in China, where global web giants such as Google, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram are blocked."

China's Xi Jinping says internet users must be free to speak their minds; Guardian, 12/16/15

Tom Phillips, Guardian; China's Xi Jinping says internet users must be free to speak their minds:

"Maya Wang, Human Rights Watch’s China researcher, said rather than encouraging Chinese citizens to share their thoughts and ideas, Xi’s three years in power had seen growing intolerance for free speech.

“Under Xi Jinping there has been a very aggressive assault on internet freedom which includes the imprisonment and detention of outspoken [online] opinion leaders.”

Wang said the result was a more cautious Chinese internet that was increasingly devoid of debate over important political and social issues. “People are becoming much more fearful to share their thoughts online,” the activist said."

China To Media: Don't Report 'Wrong Points Of View'; Reuters via Huffington Post, 12/23/13

Reuters via Huffington Post; China To Media: Don't Report 'Wrong Points Of View' : "...[S]ince Xi Jinping became party chief and then national president, he has overseen a media crackdown to bring newspapers in particular back in line. Under new guidelines to enforce "core socialist values", the media must "steadfastly uphold the correct guidance of public opinion". "Strengthen the management of the media, do not provide channels for the propagation of the wrong points of view," read the guidelines, which were published by the official Xinhua news agency... Xi has also taken a tough line on internet censorship, and the new guidelines implied that would continue."