Following Senator Dick Durbin’s letter to Baidu last week expressing his concerns about censorship in China, the US State Department has announced plans to set aside $19 million to fight internet censorship overseas.
The assistant secretary of state in charge of human rights, Michael Posner, stated:
“In effect, we’re going to be redirecting information back in that governments have initially blocked … This can be done through email or posting it on blogs or RSS feeds or websites that the government hasn’t figured out how to block.”
Meanwhile, speaking to Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton commented on China’s fear of a possible uprising similar to those in the Arab world:
They’re worried, and they are trying to stop history, which is a fool’s errand. They cannot do it. But they’re going to hold it off as long as possible.”
In the eyes of many, her condemnation of Wikileaks back in November may have undercut her credibility to lecture any nation on internet freedom. But these latest words are potent ones, certain to hurt the feelings of the Chinese people. And now that Osama Bin Laden has been taken care of, some them have expressed anxieties that the US may shift focus to China.
To bring this post full circle, here’s an excellent talk below by Kaiser Kuo back in 2009 (he has since joined afore-mentioned Baidu) on the chasm that exists between the China and America on the internet. For those who want to understand these issues better, I continue to recommend this as great resource.
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