'Unafraid' of Internet, China Appears to Block YouTube
Found on Wired on Monday, 23 March 2009
China is not afraid of the Internet, its Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, even as access to the popular video sharing site YouTube appeared to be blocked.
"Many people have a false impression that the Chinese government fears the Internet. In fact it is just the opposite," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters.
It has been described by analysts as another step in the Party's battle to stifle dissent in a year of sensitive anniversaries, including the 20th anniversary of the government's bloody crackdown on the pro-democracy Tiananmen Square protests in 1989.
Afraid of China? I'm sorry Qin Gang, but you think your regime is more important than it is. The Internet does not fear China; it does not even need China. Despite the blocking, information cannot be censored. Too bad that the Internet cannot be coordinated that well; otherwise it would be fun to cut off China from the net on every anniversary of Tiananmen Square. Or of similar massacres. Oh wait, then we could leave China offline permanentely.