China tries to limit Internet vitriol toward the West
See
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-backlash19apr19,0,6034210.story
By Mark Magnier, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
April 19, 2008
BEIJING -- As Chinese nationalism flares across cyberspace, the
government is growing concerned that passions could spill over into
the real world, and that anger directed against foreigners could turn
inward.
Critics contend that Beijing has had a role in fanning the xenophobic
sentiment to counter international condemnation of its crackdown on
Tibetan rioters, but now Chinese officials appear to be trying to rein
in the vitriol.
Chinese censors have quietly warned cyber-police and Internet
businesses to delete all information related to protests against
Western policies, nations or companies that have proliferated in the
wake of demonstrations surrounding the global Olympic torch relay and
high-level calls to boycott the opening ceremony of the Summer Games
in Beijing.
The notice issued this week by China's "Internet Inspection Sector"
instructs recipients to reset the keywords used to block access to
certain websites, relay the instructions through all Internet
distribution channels and delete the notice in a timely manner.
The censors' notice cites the danger that Internet-fueled emotions
could lead to unrest.
"Internet users are in a most intense mood toward Western countries,"
it said. "Such information has shown a tendency to spread and, if not
checked in time, could even lead to events getting out of control as
they did with the April 9 incident against Japan."
That was a reference to April 2005, when demonstrators attacked
Japan's embassy in Beijing and consulate in Shanghai, burned Japanese
goods and beat Japanese citizens because of Tokyo's bid to join the
U.N. Security Council and over Japanese textbooks that downplayed
Tokyo's World War II aggression.
A planned event to give away patriotic T-****rts near Beijing's Qinghua
University this week re****tedly was halted by police. Internet
postings say police have contacted people who issued online calls for
other demonstrations and told them to drop the idea.
The growing resentment toward foreigners comes during a year when
China is hoping to showcase its hospitality to the world for the
Beijing Olympics on Aug. 8 to 24.
The Chinese government is caught in something of a bind as it tries to
manage foreign criticism without appearing weak in the eyes of angry
Chinese; "otherwise, it becomes the target of that anger," said Chu
Shulong, a professor at Qinghua.
France has become a particular target of mass Chinese anger after pro-
Tibet, Darfur and other human rights activists attacked the Olympic
torch this month in Paris, forcing bearers to retreat to a bus and
shorten the route. Earlier, French President Nicolas Sarkozy became
the first world leader to suggest that he might boycott the opening
ceremony.
Chinese Internet users called for a boycott starting May 1 of
Carrefour, the French supermarket chain with more than 90 stores in
China, after a rumor spread that company shareholders sup****ted the
Free Tibet movement. Carrefour has denied any such sup****t, but one
online survey this week found 210,000 sup****ters for a boycott.
"The French really make Chinese people angry," said Zhou Shuyang, a 22-
year-old student. "And we don't want to be treated this way by the
Western media, which lies. If we were allowed, a lot of people would
join in protests, and I would as well."
Chinese have called for boycotts of French products made by Hermes,
Louis Vuitton, Airbus, Renault and others. The statements often have
been fueled by rumors that the companies sup****t the Dalai Lama,
Tibet's spiritual leader, and donate sizable sums to pro-Tibet groups.
|
