For 70 per cent of Chinese, the authorities are scared of the Internet
The survey was conducted after a number of officials were dismissed or convicted following revelations that appeared on the Internet. For example, Nanjing housing official Zhou Jiugeng was jailed for 11 years in December for taking bribes after Internet users dug through his public photos and exposed details of his extravagant lifestyle. More recently, Guangxi tobacco official Han Feng's diary, leaked on the internet in March, revealed his sexual escapades and corrupt activities. Han was sacked and arrested for taking bribes. For about 90 per cent of respondents, such supervision is good for society.
The Internet is especially important in China, which has the world's largest netizen community. The number of Chinese online users stood at 404 million at the end of March, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology reported. They were around 300 million at the end of 2008, 386 at the end of last year. About half of all uses access the Internet through their mobile phones. To date, China has more than 45,000 portal websites.
Information that goes online spreads quickly around the country, picked up by the many in the blogosphere, and is closely monitored by the authorities.
Because those in power too often try to hide misdeeds by corrupt officials, the Internet has become a way to exact some transparency.
Liu Xutao, a professor at the China National School of Administration, said it was a good thing that officials were scared of the internet, because as government leaders and public figures they should have something to fear and should receive more supervision.
For him, the powerful impact of online disclosure contrasted with the lack of effective institutional supervision of officials and the lack of traditional media coverage.
When ‘the main road is blocked,” he said, “exposure has to go through the subsidiary road, which is the Internet."
Officials who took part in the poll reacted in a variety of ways. A Communist Party official in Henan said that people are not responsible for their speech on the internet. In such a “horrible” environment, officials might be attacked for the slightest error or could even be the victim of rumours.
Others are less sanguine, saying that if they do nothing wrong, officials have nothing to fear from idle chat. Others agree that the Internet can expose misdeeds.
Still, Beijing is proceeding with its plans to increase Internet censorship. Wang Chen, minister of the State Council Information Office, said on Thursday that administrative laws guiding Internet information security are in great need, because of the rising number of Chinese Internet users. In his view, the law should lay down the rights and duties of all users. Wang suggested websites should adopt a real-name registration system for mobile phone users. He also insisted that the online warning system for emergencies should be improved.
Conversely, Shiyu Zhou, of the Global Internet Freedom Consortium (GIFC), said that the US State Department offered his group, a Falun Gong-linked organisation, about US$ 1.5 million to get the technology needed to circumvent Chinese government-imposed internet controls.
No US official has confirmed this claim, which comes on the eve of Sino-American talks on human rights, set to restart in Washington after a two-year hiatus.
China’s Internet censorship will be on the agenda.
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