Highlights
– 91 search engine portals and websites blocked in a span of three days
– 08 Charter’s release results in detentions and interrogations
– 2009 likely to see large-scale protests coinciding with upcoming anniversaries
Between January 8 and January 10, China’s Communist Party (CCP) has shut down 91 websites due to what it refers to as pornographic and vulgar content. In addition to its continued campaign of attempting to ensure Internet morality, Beijing has ordered the closure of Bullog.cn, a popular political blog portal. The events foreshadow larger measures likely to be taken in 2009.
Search Engines Blacklisted
On December 16, 2008, China’s foreign ministry stated that the country was within its rights to block websites with content deemed illegal by Chinese law. Continuing a policy of censorship and information repression common in the communist state, China has regularly blocked sites its finds unsavory, particularly those that relate to Chinese-Tibetan relations or those that are critical of the Communist Party.
While access to the Chinese-language versions of the BBC, Voice of America and Hong Kong media Ming Pao and Asiaweek were blocked in December for referring to mainland China and Taiwan as two independent regions, denial of access has since been expanded to other content.
According to the Xinhua News Agency, six central agencies, led by the Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, have blacklisted at least 19 search engine portals and websites – including Google, Baidu, Sina and Tencent – in a month-long campaign to address websites that “spread pornography or vulgar content, and threaten the morals of young people”.
The government’s increased efforts to limit critical online content follows a series of large anti-Japanese, anti-pollution and anti-corruption protests, many of which were organized using instant messaging services, chat rooms and text messages. With the global economic downturn radically altering the lives of many Chinese students and workers, we expect a continued Internet crackdown to occur in the coming months as the Chinese Communist Party seeks to stifle growing dissent.
“08 Charter”
On December 9, 2008, a group of 303 Chinese writers, intellectuals, lawyers, journalists, retired Party officials, workers, peasants, and businessmen issued an open letter – the “08 Charter” – calling for legal reforms, democracy and the protection of human rights in China. Released on the 60th anniversary of the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 08 Charter represents a bold challenge to the Chinese leadership – one that the CCP is taking very seriously.
A political manifesto that advocates serious government reforms, the 08 Charter models itself after the 77 Charter – a plea to the communist government of the former Czechoslovakia to respect basic human rights. The document, modeled largely on the Western government models, includes the adoption of a republican constitution with the separation of legislative, executive and judicial powers, to hold direct elections, and to guarantee citizens’ freedoms of expression, religion and assembly.
Since the 08 Charter was released, authorities have banned its distribution, detained several leaders of the campaign – including Liu Xiaobo, believed to be the main force behind the document – and summoned at least 70 of the original 303 signatories to demand their retraction. According to activists, more than 7,200 signatures have since been gathered in support of the 08 Charter, sparking widespread detentions and interrogations of signatories.
The severe clampdown on those associated with the 08 Charter, coupled with the targeting of sites which post pornographic content, appear to be a sign of things to come in 2009. Efforts to limit Chinese exposure to vulgar or politically inappropriate content has existed in China since the Internet’s inception in the country, but the current efforts appear to be a warning to dissidents and activists of things to come.
In the upcoming year, we expect an increase in the number of Chinese Internet police – already at 30,000 – and a further increase in detentions and interrogations, particularly of student dissidents.
Outlook
The CCP’s crackdown on content on the Internet in China appears to be more than an attempt at addressing immoral imagery. Rather, the increase in the number of blocked sites, detentions and interrogations appears to be a concerted effort to send a signal to dissidents, activists and student groups to be wary of the ideals they may hope to espouse in the upcoming year.
Fully cognizant of the power and significance of certain historical events, China’s Communist Party is likely attempting to stifle burgeoning democracy movements before they begin, particularly in light of the global economic downturn which is taking toll on China’s rural workers as well as its educated youth.
The following anniversaries will occur in 2009:
• 100th year of China’s Constitution
• 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• 30th anniversary of the birth of the Democracy Wall, and
• 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protest,
• 10th year since China signed the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights.
The current economic climate in China, increased unemployment, and a projected gross domestic product at half of last year’s measure, will combine to play a major role in civil and social unrest in the coming year. We expect large-scale protests, democracy campaigns and other initiatives to address inequality and social injustice to play a major role in Chinese politics in 2009. As such, we expect severe crackdowns on those movements and protests as the CCP attempts to stifle dissent and maintain its grip on power.