China to Require Web Site Registration
China recently released regulations requiring the registration of all web sites before they can be seen in China. Beijing already blocks many sites thus creating a government “blacklist.” Not content with this form of censorship, the new system will create a “whitelist” of registered sites that will be available for viewing in China. So, if you want people in China to be able to view your web site, you will have to register it with the Chinese government—assuming they accept your site for registration.
Will these regulations actually be enforced? No one really knows, but government officials certainly have the will and the capability to do so. Right after the rioting in Xinjiang last July, they cut that region off from the outside world—including blocking both email and the Internet. This embargo is still in effect today.
Technically, it is simple to accomplish in China, because the central government controls China’s communications with the rest of the world and they can impose a Xinjiang-like shutdown on the whole of China by flipping a few switches.
Some speculate that President Hu Jintao’s long-running crackdown on human rights may include his intention to take China completely off the Internet.
Time will tell, but this makes the squabbles we have with our U.S. government pale in comparison. Kinda’ makes one glad not to live in China, doesn’t it?
NOTE: This information is a synopsis of a recent article in Forbes magazine, written by Gordon G. Chang
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