Determined individuals and the free market takes on China's cyberpolice


Tyranny fears unfettered information
Here is one you should know about.

MY CYBER WAR with the Chinese Communist censors began in 2002. We had another battle last month when Beijing launched a massive campaign aimed at blocking access to banned Internet websites, around the anniversary of the June 4, 1989, Tiananmen Square massacre. Users in China suddenly could no longer get through to Google's search engine, though the censored Chinese version of Google stayed up.

My colleagues and I spent two weeks, working round-the-clock, revising software that Chinese citizens could use to circumvent the censorship and gain access to the Western news and information sites the government sought to deny them. Our upgrade is now working, and information is flowing again. But after this latest exhausting bout, I feel it is important to speak out for the estimated 300,000 people in China who rely on my services but who cannot make their voices heard.

Like them, I was educated in China to believe that as long as you study math and science well, you will have nothing to worry about. I came to the United States as a graduate student in the sciences in the late 1990s. When American friends showed me a videotape about the Tiananmen massacre, I privately doubted that it was true.

Then, in 1999, I saw a 30-minute video that the Chinese state media were broadcasting to slander the Falun Gong spiritual movement. I had been practicing Falun Gong for two years, had benefited from it, and I knew of many others who embraced it as a renaissance of traditional Chinese spirituality. Suddenly, I realized that I had become a public enemy in China. I also realized that the Tiananmen tape I had been shown was accurate. And I saw how my government had deployed its massive resources to concoct lies and justify torturing and killing innocents.

I'm a big believer in freedom of information and the power of the internet to fight tyranny. Mr. Xia and his colleagues deserve recognition for the work they are doing.

A couple of days ago I pointed out that if the New York Times leaks had happened in China, the reporters and editors probably wouldn't be alive any more. I still think that is true.

One of the many reasons the United Nations fails in it's missions is the culture of secrecy that clouds it's actions.

Fighting government secrecy is a worthy goal.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Mon - July 3, 2006 at 06:09 AM  Tag


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