Liu Zhengrong, deputy director-general of Internet Affairs
Bureau under the State Council Information Office, met with the
press on?February 14?to discuss the development and
management of the Internet in China.
Guo Weimin, director general of the Press Bureau under the State
Council Information Office, chaired the press conference. The
following is the full coverage of meeting:
Guo Weimin: Good afternoon, everybody. We
recently received applications from some media organizations
including The Washington Post, The New York
Times, The Wall Street Journal, representatives of
which are here today, inquiring into the development and management
of the Internet in China. We've organized this special news
conference to address those issues. We are honored to have present
with us Mr Liu Zhengrong, deputy director-general of Internet
Affairs Bureau of the State Council Information Office.
Liu Zhengrong: Good afternoon, ladies and
gentlemen. Before I take your questions, I'd like to make three
points:
First, the Internet has developed very rapidly in China and we
now have approximately 110 million Internet users. China ranks
second in the world in terms of Internet usage. The Chinese
government is fully aware of the advancement and importance of the
Internet, and has therefore dedicated itself to promoting its
development and wider application in the country. Our attitude
towards the Internet is very positive.
Second, China regulates the Internet according to law and has
accordingly enacted relevant rules and regulations. We also
advocate self-discipline on the part of the Internet industry.
Third, China's management of the Internet follows international
practices. We value and have learned from successful international
experiences and practices in this respect.
One more point I'd like to make is that in China, the Internet
is subject to the administration of several government departments.
They include the Ministry of Information Industry, Ministry of
Public Security, Ministry of Culture, and the State Council
Information Office.
At this juncture, I will take your questions.
Lianhe Zaobao (Singapore): Based on
what you have just said, how do the State Council Information
Office and other government departments divide the work?
Liu: The State Council Information Office, the
Ministry of Information Industry, and the Ministry of Public
Security are the three key departments that administrate the
Internet, taking charge of Internet news and information services,
industry management, and cracking down on Internet crimes
respectively. There is division of work and?coordination of
efforts among them, as well as with other administrative
departments.
Sing Tao Daily (Hong Kong): You said
China regulates the Internet according to law, and at the same time
in the light of international practices. Can you give some
examples?
Liu: Overall, what we have done in regulating
the Internet is consistent with international practice.
First of all, a majority of the countries in the world have
agreed to administrate the Internet according to law. Since the
mid-1990s the US, the EU, the UK, France and Germany where the
Internet has been widely used have made significant progress in
Internet legislation. China has also made great efforts to this
end.
Second, as is well known, legislation always lags behind real
development of the Internet. This situation forces the industry to
solve newly emerging problems first. The Internet Society of China,
established in 2001, has drawn up rules and regulations to enhance
self-discipline within the industry, and has achieved the desired
results. Similarly, the US, the UK, France, Germany and Australia
have their own Internet confederations.
Third, to give play to public supervision of the Internet, China
has set up informants' hotlines and websites. In June 2004, the
Internet Society of China started a website called China Reporting
Center of Illegal and Unhealthy Information (URL: www.net.China.cn), which has a
similar function to the UK's Internet Watch Foundation (IWF).
Fourth, we attach great importance to public education. In our
opinion, it's essential to heighten general awareness, particularly
for teenagers, to stay away from harmful information spread on the
Internet. Our view happens to coincide with that of many Western
countries, which have also advocated strengthening public education
for the appropriate use of the Internet in recent years.
Wall Street Journal: It seems that
some websites would not be allowed by China to publish
politics-oriented content, especially that which the government
does not agree with. How does the Chinese government inform
Internet companies of the type of information that is illegal and
not allowed to be released? Is there a list that names the websites
and the types of contents that are not allowed to be disseminated?
Or are they to decide for themselves what contents are not allowed
to be published in China?
Liu: Generally speaking, opinion on China's
public affairs is actively discussed on the Internet in China,
including sharply worded political content. As for the topics and
contents that are prohibited to be spread, Chinese laws such as the
Resolution of the National People's Congress Standing Committee on
Internet Safety and Regulations on Online Information Service
Management contain specific provisions. In recent years, the
Internet-related confederations have played an active role in
helping website administrators and users understand these laws.
We have also encouraged website administrators to handle illegal
and unhealthy information on their own initiative. I would like to
share an important figure with you today: China Reporting Center of
Illegal and Unhealthy Information had received 235,000 reports on
illegal and unhealthy information as of yesterday (February 13,
2006) since the center was set up. All the member sites of the
Internet Society of China have access to details of these reports
through a technical system.
The third piece of work we have done is to educate Internet
staff to raise public consciousness of safeguarding public
interests. Websites should be aware that they serve public
interests when spreading content, including news stories, because
information dissemination in China is playing a more and more
important role in society. Further, I can definitely tell you that
the name list you mentioned does not exist.
China Daily: With regard to Internet
users posting messages, I have noticed two situations: on the one
hand, some foreign media criticize Chinese websites for deleting
Internet users' messages; on the other hand, I myself often surf
the Internet and I have seen some media, for example, The New
York Times, gave similar regulations for its website, saying
that the administrator reserves the right to delete certain
messages if necessary. I would like to know what your comments are
concerning these two situations. Thanks.
Liu: It is very normal for websites to delete
illegal and harmful information. This is a common practice for
websites all over the world, so it is for China. We have also
noticed that some leading US websites including The New York
Times, The Washington Post, Yahoo, and AOL all have
explicit stipulations when it comes to posting messages in
forums.
For example, The New York Times website says:
"We reserve the right to delete, move or edit messages that we deem
abusive, defamatory, obscene, in violation of copyright or
trademark laws or otherwise unacceptable. We reserve the right to
remove the posting privileges of users who violate these standards
of Forum behavior at any time."
Websites in the US have stipulated that Internet users cannot
violate US laws nor infringe on other people's rights and
intellectual property rights while posting their messages. Internet
users are not allowed to engage in business activities through
posting messages. It is unfair and smacks of double standards when
criticizing China for deleting illegal and harmful messages while
it is legal for US websites to do so.
As a country with very advanced Internet development, the US has
comparatively mature experiences. Many methods we used are learned
from the US. We will continue to adopt successful and beneficial
Internet management practices from around the world.
New York Times: What are your comments
on US companies' cooperation with China in accordance with Chinese
laws? Have some leading US media and Internet firms including
Microsoft, Google and Yahoo spared no effort to obey China's
Internet laws and regulations?? Have their management of the
Internet posed some threat to China?
Liu: China's Internet market is huge and open.
We welcome foreign firms to provide legal Internet services in
China. Chinese laws will also protect their legal rights. Those big
international firms you mentioned should know how to provide legal
Internet services. As to what to do? It's their business. But there
is one widely acknowledged principle: firms that provide services
in China including Internet firms should respect and obey Chinese
laws.
As I know, when these firms enter the Chinese market, they all
have studied the relevant laws and regulations in China. I believe
more foreign businesses will benefit from the increasingly
attractive market.
Washington Post: You just mentioned
many Chinese laws and regulations and I'd like to know whether
foreign firms and joint ventures in China can get approval as
Internet content providers. Do you have any specific legislation in
this regard? In addition, as China has regulations for news
information services and the country has a large number of
individual websites and web logs, can users post comments on news
stories freely or must they get approval? Also you talked about
illegal, harmful information, I'd like to mention a case. Before
the Spring Festival, many websites were told not to publish news
reporting the closure of Bingdian Weekly (Freezing Point
Weekly, a feature supplement of China Youth Daily). Do you
think the news itself was illegal or harmful?
Liu: Our regulations on online information
service management define the websites that can provide information
services. We divide them into two categories. The first is "for
profit" that requires registration; the other is "non-profit" that
requires the website to be put on record. Websites must get
approval for providing four kinds of information including news,
publications, education, and medicine.
The Regulations on Management of Online News Services issued
last September stipulate that websites must get approval for
providing news information. So far, 163 websites have been
approved. The web logs and other websites that provide on-line
message services, which you mentioned, should go through procedures
in line with Regulations on Management of Internet Bulletin Board
Systems. I won't go into detail here due to time constraints.
The shutting down of Bingdian Weekly triggered heated
online discussions. I think it's common for a newspaper to make
adjustments. No need to exaggerate it. I have found many comments
about Bingdian. This morning, I happened to read a comment
and printed it out. I have it here and I'd like to share with
you.
The comment, posted by a user on club.cat898.com, said it's the
internal thing for China Youth Daily to readjust its
section as a newspaper has its own editorial system. It's not
reasonable to make any wild guesses. An article on
Bingdian even said the invasion of China by the Eight
Allied Powers (aggressive troops sent by Britain, the US, Germany,
France, Russia, Japan, Italy and Austria in 1900) was because of
the anti-imperialist Yihetuan Movement in China. Few Chinese will
accept this point. I think it should be rectified, the user said.
After this news conference, I'd like to provide a copy to any of
you who are interested in it.
Beijing Review: Could you please
introduce the Chinese government's principles of Internet
development and administration in detail?
Liu: I can generalize our basic attitude toward
the Internet in two phrases. The first one is to actively boost the
development of the Internet, while the other is to administrate it
according to law. We abide by the following basic principles:
First, we regulate the Internet according to law and has made
necessary legislation. Pay attention to my expression "necessary
legislation." Necessary legislation is to respect the law of
Internet development and boost its development as well.
Second, let the Internet industry circles solve their problems
wherever possible, but moderate administration measures from
government departments are also needed to foster its development.
That is to say, Internet administration should facilitate its
development.
Third, let market forces lead the application of Internet
technologies. Our administration should not hinder the development
of Internet technology. This shows that we have fully realized the
advancement of the Internet.
Fourth, let the public play a role in administrating the
Internet wherever possible.
Straits Times: Some Chinese Internet
users were arrested for publishing critical articles on Yahoo.com,
so I want to know how the Ministry of Public Security gets their
information from Yahoo Inc. Does it issue an order or directly ask
staff members of Yahoo for information? What I want to know
essentially is how the Chinese government gets Internet service
providers (ISPs), foreign ISPs in particular, to disclose such
information.
Liu: So far, no one has been arrested in China
for publishing articles on the Internet. As for what acts attract
criminal liability, the Resolution of the National People's
Congress Standing Committee on Internet Safety has already given a
clear description.
As I have just stressed, all companies must abide by Chinese
laws within China. China is a country administrated in accordance
with the law. Thus, related law enforcement departments and law
enforcement officers will do their duty according to the law.
I have more to add even if what I am about to say might not be
relevant to your questions. It would be baffling if police or law
enforcement departments to turn a blind eye to violations on the
Internet. According to studies, the US has done well in this
respect. As far as I know, the USA Patriot Act promulgated in 2001
has detailed provisions on how law enforcement agencies can get
citizens' personal information and communications situation. I once
saw a Reuter's report, which claimed that the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) had adopted an e-mail collection system named
"Carnivore." It was later renamed dsc1000. It is said that millions
of e-mail can be collected per second through the system. What I
want to say is that the law enforcement departments of every nation
will pay attention to the spread of illegal information and the
violations on the Internet.
I can still remember one example clearly. During the US
presidential elections in 2000, an American youth posted a piece of
information threatening others in an online forum of a well known
US media company. It was soon discovered by the US law enforcement
department and those involved were punished accordingly.
Lianhe Zaobao: As Mr. Liu has just
said and emphasized, no one has been arrested in China simply
because he or she said something on the Internet, and the
government adopts explicit lawful management over Internet affairs.
May I ask a question that if illegal activities did take place on
some websites, for example, if they published some illegal
comments, what would the Internet Affairs Bureau and the Public
Security Ministry do? Till now, how many websites have been
penalized for such occurrences and what are the penalties? Another
question, you have said that blogs and personal websites are also
subject to relevant approval procedures if they want to release
news-like information. How many blogs or personal websites have
applied for approval? And what did the authorities do about the
websites that might have released news comments without having
first gone through the required formalities?
Liu: Reports from the public are the main way
we deal with illegal and harmful information. As I have just
introduced, the China Reporting Center of Illegal and Unhealthy
Information has received 235,000 tip-offs from the public since it
was set up in June 2004. A part of those tip-offs can be dealt with
directly by related websites because there is a system through
which the websites can receive such reports immediately. The rest
are passed on to relevant government departments and those
governmental departments are responsible for informing related
websites that they are to delete the illegal and harmful
information on their websites. It is called the
"Notification-Deletion" mechanism, and is also an international
practice.
Referring to the question about blogs and personal websites
carrying news, I hope you can be clear about one thing and that is
that not all the news released needs a permit. Those which need
permission are information related to politics, economy, military
and foreign affairs, since such news is closely linked to the
public interest. The prerequisites to providing Internet
information services are stipulated by the Regulations on
Management of Online News Services. I can give you the related
materials after this press conference.
Penalties imposed on websites carrying illegal and harmful
information have been lenient in China. Under ordinary
circumstances, ordering the deletion of the information has been
enough. No website has been shut down as a result.
China News Service: In your introduction you
said that China's Internet industry has drawn on the experience of
other countries, and China set up an industry organization as well
as an Internet society. Could you please give some examples of how
the Internet self-regulating organization?deals with
problems?
Liu: The major aim of setting up Internet trade
organizations is not to deal with problems on the Internet. It is
to facilitate the industry's development and to contribute to
exchange and cooperation. These Internet trade organizations have
drawn up some pledges and performance specifications. One important
aim is to prevent vicious competition within the industry. As to
the problems facing the industry, the industry's representatives
are working together for solutions. The self-discipline concept has
achieved good results, at least in three aspects. First, unlike
before, the industry now has its own standards. Second, there is
room for industry players to communicate and discuss with one
another. Third, these players can collate the industry's opinions
and proposals and make representations to government organs, which
would help the government understand the industry better. Many
problems confronting China's Internet industry have been resolved
within the framework of industry self-discipline. As I know, the
Internet Society of China organizes overseas research trips every
year for members and related specialists to learn from overseas
Internet organizations.
New York Times: I have two questions.
First, in your reply to the aforementioned question on the Yahoo
case, you denied there was such a case, and that nobody has ever
been arrested merely for publishing his/her comments on the
Internet. However, this information from Yahoo shows that a male
citizen in Sichuan Province was arrested for his comments published
on the Internet, and was charged for subversion. The most important
evidence is that his comments were published on the Internet. Do
you have any different understanding of this case? The second
question is about the definition of "harmful information". Is there
any difference between the definitions of "harmful information" as
is set by the traditional media, including the newspapers,
magazines and TV and new media, including blogs and BBS on the
Internet?
Liu: My point on the Yahoo case is clear:
nobody has been arrested merely for publishing his/her comments on
the Internet. As to the details of this case, I believe the court
is much clearer of them. I don't think it is logical to judge the
case based only on what you've said.
With regard to the definitions of harmful information, there are
clear definitions in different countries. I studied the US Child
Online Protection Act, UK's defamation laws, Germany's Information
and Communication Services Act (Multimedia Law, das
Multimediagesetz der Bundesrepublik Deutschland) and related laws
in France. These laws prompt me to think that there are basic
common standards regarding what kind of information can be
described as harmful, whether online or offline. And I have noticed
that there is such a formulation: a category of information is
harmful if the majority of normal people think it is harmful
according to normal standards.
Washington Post: I would like to ask
you a question about browsing the Internet. I know that most
foreign media websites can be accessed in China, but there are
still some that are not accessible. Is it because that these
websites provide some harmful information? I'd like to know how the
Chinese government decides which websites can be accessed and which
can not. Is there a list? And which department decides this?
Lately, some Chinese were very concerned about a textbook website
which they could no longer get access to. I would like to know
whether this website is also on that list of the Chinese
government. Is it because it had carried some harmful
information?
Liu: A few foreign websites cannot be fully
accessed in China. The reason is that some foreign websites publish
some content that is against Chinese laws. A Chinese Internet
service provider (ISP) would follow the laws to implement some
technical measures on these websites. This is fully understandable
and also necessary. As you mentioned, there are no problems
accessing many of the better-known websites from around the world,
including well-known media websites, from China. Those not
accessible are mainly the websites which carry pornographic or
terrorist content.
In fact, Chinese citizens have found it much easier to exchange
information and communicate with the outside in recent years. To
ensure a smooth connection between the Chinese Internet and the
international Internet, the bandwidth of the Chinese Internet for
international connection was increased from 2,799 Mbit in 2000 to
136,100 Mbit at the end of last year, a growth of 48 times in five
years.
We have our own standard to determine which websites should not
be permitted to release information in China. This standard was set
according to Chinese laws and regulations. We didn't set an
Internet policy for a particular country or for a particular
website. There is only one standard. Our information is
transparent. Early last year, the website of China Reporting Center
of Illegal and Unhealthy Information published a list of blocked
foreign pornographic websites. This list was later taken away from
the site, because the public was afraid that if these websites were
made known, it would help and encourage some people to gain access
to their harmful information.
There are three basic facts that no one can deny: First, people
in China can use the Internet freely. Second, the number of foreign
websites which cannot be fully accessed in China is very few and
limited. Third, the connection between China's Internet and the
international Internet has improved tremendously.
(China.org.cn February 17, 2005)
