I noticed something odd when I tried to watch a harmless music video. When I switched to my browser that was running out of Germany (a country full of the most responsible netizens you can find), I had no problem accessing Youtube, which means it was blocked. Apparently the reason for the blockage is this video of Chinese soldiers beating the hell out of Tibetans last year. Xinhua has reported that the video is faked by the Dalai Lama, a/k/a the Tibetan John Carpenter. Obviously a fake video is a threat to internal stability. To be perfectly honest, this video wouldn't convert a single Chinese person to the Dalai Lama's cause even if it were run on a non-stop loop on Chinese Central TV for days on end. You don't stay in power for 60 years without being cautious.
The Great Firewall gets a lot of publicity outside of China, and most Chinese internet users are aware of its existence. Surprisingly, it's very easy to circumvent, but that's not the point. This site teaches you (in Chinese!) how to jump the wall and rock on in the free world (at least online). This site is not blocked. So what's the point? According to James Fallows of the Atlantic (annual subscription for under 50 bucks, do it now!), as long as the government makes it slightly difficult to get to that information, only people with a bone to pick with the government already will bother to hop over the firewall and bathe in the soothing, unfiltered waters of freedom.
I agree with Fallows's conclusion, but would also add that the internet has created much more access to information than the government would like and people like all the Chinese blogs on my blogroll routinely criticize the government online without being blocked or facing retribution. (That much cannot be said for Zan Aizong, whose blog is blocked and he is prevented from leaving the country.)
Currently Ai Weiwei, former artist and now full-time activist, is roiling the government over its negligence in building supervision of Sichuan schools that collapsed killing thousands of students.
I think in the end the Great Firewall, like the Great Wall itself will fail. People won't put up with it forever. The only question is: "when?"
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AGAIN? It was blocked for a good portion of March/April too, remember?
ReplyDeleteIn related news about Fallows and things being banned, did you happen to read his post on the cheese ban? (http://jamesfallows.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/03/the_war_against_cheese_is_on.php) Is this still going on??
I cannot fully agree with the Fallows conclusion that only dissidents will want to jump the wall.
ReplyDelete1) How about the classic forbidden fruit argument? Are the Chinese immune? I think not.
2) The situation is reminiscent of over-protective parents banning certain mainstream content from their kids (think Detroit Rock City, for example). If the idea is out there enough, it will find its way in with bans or without (at least in this day and age).
Eh? Eh comrades?
I think "dissidents" and "people with a bone to pick with the government are both overstatements of what Fallows said, which was: "What the government cares about is making the quest for information just enough of a nuisance that people generally won’t bother."
ReplyDeleteOf course, there are some curious people, as well as dissidents and fen qing, who do jump the wall, but as for the general public? I really do think most people don't care enough to go out of their ways to find forbidden pages, based on the attitudes and Internet habits of friends and co-workers in China. Most people aren't doing it simply because it's forbidden. It's not as if the firewall impedes most normal browsing habits and baidu searches.
In response to (2), yes, of course things find their way in, but I would argue that they don't really become mainstream. Furthermore, nationwide blockages of foreign news sites are pretty infrequent these days, and even stories on the Tibet riots and Olympic torch relay protests remained unblocked.
Anonymous: Thanks for pointing my misinterpretation of Fallows's piece. I agree with your analysis. The fire doesn't get in the way of having fun, which is what most Chinese use the internet for anyway.
ReplyDeleteNovelist, prominent blogger, and fierce critic of the government, Han Han, has said that there's no need to jump the wall because there's already enough things inside the wall to complain about. The wall really only blocks huge things like June 4, the FLG, and Tibet (and even then, not completely).
Santo: I don't think the forbidden fruit argument is valid in general. A fruit is only forbidden if you know it exists. If you have no idea about June Frth, how could you possibly be intrigued and want to seek out information about it? This also has to do with your second point. These ideas aren't mainstream, aren't floating around and often go undiscussed. Many people here tend to simply censor themselves rather than discuss taboo topics, like the C R. Self-censorship prevents these ideas from becoming mainstream. You have to remember that public discourse is far more limited and regulated here than it is in America (when it comes to sensitive issues). Therefore the wall will continue to effectively serve its function as long as the CCP maintains its strict control. The government has learned well from perestroika and glasnost.