FC: China's Internet police are brutally efficient

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

---

From: "James Lucier" <vze29z9k () verizon net>
To: <declan () well com>
Subject: For FC:  New Amnesty Int'l Report Shows China's Internet Police 
Are Brutally Efficient
Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2002 22:06:39 -0500


Hi Declan:  Thought I would pass this on for the benefit or fellow 
Politechnicals. You may need a Chinese language version of the 
Politechbot.  Jim Lucier

http://www.theweeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/002/040yffaq.asp

Caught in the Web
A new Amnesty International report reveals that China's Internet police 
force is brutally efficient--and becoming more so every day.
by Katherine Mangu-Ward
12/19/2002 1:45:00 AM


Katherine Mangu-Ward, editorial assistant

NO ONE CAN BE SURE of the exact size of China's Internet police force, but 
estimates hover between 30,000 and 40,000 officers. And their back-up is 
impressive--China has just spent $200 million on new firewall technology as 
well. But for those who still try to access forbidden material, China's 
punishment is swift and severe.

Amnesty International recently released a report compiling records of 33 
"prisoners of conscience who have been detained for using the Internet to 
circulate or download information."

One of the cases Amnesty highlights is the story of Chen Shaowen, charged 
with "subverting state power." He was caught "browsing repeatedly 
reactionary web sites" as well as "sending in numerous articles of all 
sorts, fabricating, distorting and exaggerating relevant facts, and 
vilifying the Chinese Communist party and socialist system."

Chen's most recent article was about a group of workers in his hometown of 
Lianyuan who lost their jobs and now drive three-wheeled motor-cabs for 
hire. In July, the city government banned the cabs, and the workers 
retaliated by saying they would set up a self-help association to protect 
their interests: "We would prefer to suffer hardship than to give up hope." 
This stirring tale of self-reliance and entrepreneurship would command 
several column inches in some decent American papers, but in China it has 
earned Chen a spot in the clink.

Other notable cases chronicled in the Amnesty report:

"--Wang Youcai, founder of the China Democracy Party (CDP), was sentenced 
to 11 years' imprisonment for subversion in December 1999. Two of the 
accusations against Wang involved sending e-mail to Chinese dissidents 
abroad and accepting overseas funds to buy a computer."

--"Lin Hai, a computer engineer from Shanghai, was arrested in March 1998 
and is considered to be the first person to have been sentenced for 
Internet use in China. He was accused of providing 30,000 e-mail addresses 
to VIP Reference, a U.S.-based online pro-democracy magazine, and charged 
with subversion and sentenced to two years in prison in June 1999."


[...]




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