 |
|
They used the false name of Xin Wenming, identical in sound to the Chinese characters for New Culture. In a statement after it was closed down, "Mr Xin" apologised "for using dishonest means", but said it was justified because of the Chinese government’s repression. The site has now been moved from the mainland to the US-based Human Rights In China (HRIC) web site (www.hrichina.org). Huang Qi, the author of another offending site, was less fortunate than the anonymous Mr Xin. He was arrested in June after his bulletin board for missing people in China began to carry discussion on democracy and human rights. It, too, can now be found (in Chinese) on the HRIC site. Beijing may have taken time to wake up to the Internet revolution, but it is not underestimating it now. A few days after New Culture was shut down, the Communist Party deployed its most powerful propaganda voice, the People’s Daily newspaper, to warn 60 million members to take the web seriously. This strong language reveals the extent of Beijing’s concern — which seems to stem from the personal interest of Chinese President and party boss Jiang Zemin himself. The People’s Daily commentary described the worldwide Internet revolution as "great, rapid and extensive" (da-kuai-guang) — adjectives once used to hail China’s Great Leap Forward (1958-60). The opportunity it offered for media management and propaganda, it continued, was a "new phenomenon" (xin shiwu) — the term once used to describe the alleged achievements of the Cultural Revolution (1966-76). The thrust of the argument was almost military in style. The Internet, said the People’s Daily, has become a new arena for struggle between the "correct propaganda" of the government and the "reactionary, superstitious and pornographic" content of China’s enemies. Party authorities all over China should form crack units of web fighters who understand politics and news management, and have a good command of foreign languages, to wage battle with the enemy "at home and abroad." No one can accuse the inheritors of the Chinese revolution of underestimating the power of the Internet revolution. They share Bill Clinton’s fervent belief that the Web would be the harbinger of the Chinese democracy. The only difference was that they wanted to stop it happening. —By arrangement with |
 |
 |
