Following last weekend’s deadly riots in its western region of Xinjiang, China’s central government has taken all the usual steps to block citizens from accessing foreign web services: aside from crippling Internet service in general, the authorities have blocked Twitter, removed unapproved references to the violence from search engines and has now apparently moved to bar its citizens from accessing Facebook from most parts of Mainland China just now. Two weeks ago, the government had already blocked just about every Google service, including communication tools like Gmail, Google Apps and Google Talk.
Web2Asia’s George Godula writes:
“As of today 8pm Chinese time Facebook seems not to be accessible from most parts of China Mainland anymore. On the China Telecom connection of our Shanghai office the service vanished at around 7:45pm. Friends in Hong Kong are reporting that they can still access the website.”
A quick test on WebsitePulse confirms the blocking of Twitter and YouTube (which have been restricted for a while) and now Facebook too, at least in some parts of the country.
China rules with an iron hand
Sometimes it helps and sometimes it backfires. Lee Kuan Yew from Singapore rules with an iron hand too but it works for his country. I can’t say the same for China.
Why they block in Shanghai? they can block only where riots happening, that is some remote province
I’m Shanghaiese in China. I’m so sorry for your inconvenience of not accessing the FACEBOOK because of the government. But honest to say, It’s a pity that someone said buying Chinese products is equal to supporting terrorism, and because he is misunderstanding the meaning of terrorism. It’s common that The government only allows us to know what they wanna be known to. How does he know that what happened in China he’s learned is not for the will of his own government hostile to China? Calm down…maybe we could reasoningly look on the affair.
I am a foreigner living in suzhou,,, I, 100% agree and second your thoughts..people only pointouts that stuff rather then highlighting how much Chinese govt. is doing for the welfare and betterment of the peoples of PRC.Free education till high school,jobs creations,better life style,etc etc,,,
Long live “One China”
Are you kidding, free education? Man I can tell you are a newbie or just plain stupid.
Thats the highest level of BULLSHIT!!!!
you guys dont pretend to show yourself as if you are a foreigners in here ..you are completely pure chinese .we can read it from your finger how you type your bullshits.you aint laowai..you are a total yellow mazaf…get out our way you fool
education isn’t free in china, most people move to smaller cities because of how expensive even kindergarden is (expensive even in places like shenzhen so they go to places like kai ping) and once you start high school, you have to pay for school, and like ‘mouses’ said, your english is horrible so you are definatley native chinese so you should know this already, thanks for coming out though!
HMMM…. i think you dunno what you are talking about for Singapore. Internet was never blocked, and it was never “ruled with an iron hand”. A strict hand but not “iron hand”
If you buy from China, you are supporting terrorism.
most iphone parts are made in china…
Fortunately, I can still access Facebook on my iphone.
nope, cant access facebook on your iphone at all, i tried. you find it shows all the old posts and not the new ones
I would like to see you not buy from China. If you walk into Walmart and randomly flip over items on shelves, you will see that 19 times out of 20, the item is made in China.
The keyboard you typed that naive statement from was made in China. So too is the LCD screen you are reading this with.
That fact that you surfing the net, you are using a product from China. In that sense you are also supporting Terrorism you stupid idiot!! Think before you type in anything!! People from the West are all stupid idiots. If it wasn’t for China you guys are nothing. You would be back in the Stone Age missing your iPhone. Or worse, you would be illiterate because there is no paper write on.
You seem to follow a double standard, Mandy. Think before you type such raging generalities such as “People from the West are _all_ stupid idiots.”
Yup, it is nonsense to state that buying things from China is supporting terrorism and it is nonsense to state that all Westerners are stupid. However, it is a reasonable generalisation that MOST PEOPLE ARE STUPID, this includes people in China and in The West (and everywhere else for that matter) and terrorists and their supporters and non-terrorists and their supporters.
without china we would pay a little bit more, but there are still other places with cheap labor and ok productivity.
Really? That’s funny, it was FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) that built all the factories in China in the first place, not Chinese companies themselves.
am sure the MNCs of the world can always move their production to one of the other BRIC countries and get the same result.
I am so sorry to hear that, Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy he joined the famous online rich men seeking fun service http://www.Sugarmatchmaker.c om? I am one of her fans, but i really don’t know why he was stupid at that moment!
Mandy… you have your facts all wrong… China didnt develop these technologies, they are simply the manufacturers because the environmental policies and wages in the west would make the products impossible or too expensive to create in the west. So You have it backward.
To say the west would be nothing without China.
definatley agree, if anything my dear, the west would be poor without china because we wouldn’t be able to afford all of the electronic luxuries that we currently have. Few fries short of a happy meal are we Mandy??
No, not all people, or even a majority of people from any country, or race, etc. are idiots, but comments like yours are kind of idiotic. So, we can’t boycott China, it’s too bad, but that’s how things are. Same, for Israel, we can’t change how governments do things in their own country unless we can have a vote there.. like Americans and other free people..I hope Obama does a better job than the rest.
look you idiot, its sooo typical of u saying everyone is an idiot in the west… i think it tells more about u than the westerns… jeeez flush urself in the toilet u idiot!
go away muslim terorist. dont buy china things and u will starve. muslim people scared of china depend on china goods and people. china army will destroy muslim in urumqi.long live motherland.
Yin, I am so sorry to read your statements. I live in China and I’m married to a Chinese woman. This is my family and although I am not a citizen, I’m pretty close. Your statements are based on dogmatic ideas that the Chinese “motherland” extends beyond the eastern part of China. The true “motherland” is actually much smaller than what the currently political borders of China show. Read your history, and not just the history you were fed in school. It was the Mongols, not the Chinese (Han) who extended the borders out to and beyond the currently borders of China. Prior to that time Xinjiang was not part of China and has not, until recently, really had much contact (mostly through trade routes) with China.
And, to everyone else. Please can we stop with the insults, it is ridiculous. Where did you people learn to communicate, on the street? How can we ever get along on a larger scale if you can’t get along in a simple web post. Patriotism is foolishness, we are all Human, it’s time we get over this, “my country/ethnicity is better than your country/ethnicity” crap.
Why thank you, sir, for having a shred of common sense.
My objection to China is caused by stupid Americans who want things cheap. We buy things made by hard work too long, from a government who treats them like slaves. There is no way anyone treated like this can produce good quality cheap!
That is most of the reason why we cannot find decent well-paid jobs by people who can produce good quality. We buy things cheap that are often broken when we receive them, or if they are acceptable they will have to be replaced soon anyway – i.e. cheap things are more expensive.
With our country dying, we have no choice but to allow our own government to become communist, from which we are already becoming slaves.
so thomas, I am appreciated for your opinion, but could u let me know where r u from? coz that’s really matters, what if u from America, could I just say ,that Americans actually stolen the land where belong to Indians first .
It is true that China is famous for it’s ability to reproduce good at lower costs due to it’s high be amount of labor. But you need to more sensitive to culture. Cleo I don’t think you have had much life experience to state something so ridiculous. I have been living in China for almost 10 years and have seen this great country grow into something that even the US has come to respect. The issue going on in Xinjiang is also not the gov. fault. The native people are angry that the Han Chinese are more successful than than the locals. It’s like if the African American population in the states became angry become other people(s) are richer than them… Look in China anybody can become wealthy but they must do it the right way… I know many Tibetans that are extremely wealthy and the people there are still complaining. You need to come and see the differences in China before you sound like and ignorant fool. China has the right to protect the majority. If Hawaii or Texas began to rebel from the states do you think the US would allow it to happen? Hell no they would fight and issue marshal law to CONTROL the situation…. They would deem the the people who are against the US as Terrorists right… So watch what you say,,,,
when everyone has so much negativity towards china i think you are getting into business that is not your own or at least that you are not experienced in. you talk about the government treating these citizens like slaves but if you talk to chinese people most of them look at their political leaders as if they are Gods! These people are happy and they know how to enjoy life, they are easygoing. you probably say these things because you’ve grown up rich and are not open minded to anything!!! Usually growing up rich you don’t have the experience of meeting the poor! People all over the world don’t make enough money so they have to work two or three different jobs, at least these people just work at one job. I know a lot of people that need to work 2 or 3 jobs just to make ends meat because the west is pretty effing expensive to live in. Life is pretty good in china even if you are poor. Things here are inexpensive. They don’t bitch and complain about working either, they just do it! Get treated like slaves…. haha, everywhere I go in China people sleep at work, I sure wish I could do that in Canada, I’d find my ass fired with no job! They have so many people working at the same place here in china, that there is no need to rush anything, I sure bust my ass in Canada to meet deadlines and time limits, because again, if i don’t i won’t have a job.
Nicely put!!!
There is something intense happening in the world these days. It is important that we stay calm and do the best we can to not be aftraid.
I tend to agree with this in a way. The word terrorist is brandished around far too easily these days, its like the whole world just got clickey all of a sudden. Now its like theres violence happening label it a terrorist attack… Because labelling is cool like smoking is cool?? Maybe the use of the term was the most successful viral attack on the human brain this century. Sad really…
A country that tries to block human progress and do wants to listen to its people… that can’t be good. It’s time for China to rethink their strategy. A more open China could be good for the world and its people. There should be an app to solve this problem. Perhaps China 2.0? or was it China 3.0, etc?
The politics system in China is strictly hierarchical therefore it’s very hard/slow to change. Many ppl expect to see slow transitions to a more open society in next generations of leaders (in 20 years or more). Nothing seemed to be strong enough to overthrow the government and not many ppl would like to see it change in the radical way either.
No surprise there.. seems a bit pointless though – the horse has already bolted.
Yup..I’m in Beijing, China. They’ve blocked Twitter and Facebook.
However, Gmail is still working.
Godspeed, I pray for you Chinese, the muslims and christians there, and all of the innocents.
CALM DOWN RETARDS! So we don’t have FB, but f***ind deal. God forbid we pick up a phone or talk to people in person or not heavily rely on machines to have a “social” life.
Nobody is getting persecuted and riots all happening all over the world. You can thank the mainstream media for keeping it censored.
I’m American, and I still prefer living in China. I don’t even care that I can’t TWITTER it!!
But would you care if you couldn’t post it here?
Passivity to massive control and censorship results in greater control and censorship.
The very tool you are using to express yourself today may very well be stolen from you tomorrow due to your passive acceptance of the same control and censorship.
I run a VA/Internet Marketing Business in China.
But now that FB, Twitter, Wordpress, Technorati, Blogger is not accessible to China, how can I continue with my business? Some people thinks that it’s just a virtual world and an addiction, but for me, I use these sites as a source of income to give a better future to my kids.
Coming to China is the worst investment I made. It’s not just about the communication. And not to mention I do employ some Chinese people as well.
You shouldve just opened up with: In my day… Haha, at least you have spirit. I wouldt want to mess with your walking stick.
Xiola, unfortunately, to call oversea is not so easy and cheap that if you call inland (china).
One use of FB, for me, is to communicate with all my family and friends that are living in Europe.
Show the pic of my life and what happens to me.
By phoone you cannot …!!
Moreover, there are not only the social life but a lot of apps that I use for work &/or fun. Now nothing ….
I will not say it is an essential tool for my life but so easy and useful to communicate all over the world! sorry but worl is not only China …
BTW, I’m living here for over 4 years, so I saw a lot and I didn’t see all for sure
Godspeed, I pray for you Chinese, the muslims and christians there, and all of the innocents.
I’m in mainland china right now and unable to connect to facebook. But its not the usual blocked site error
not the usual? are you sure? i’m from mainland too, they had blocked twitter, facebook, flickr, youtube, wiki, bbc, etc.. before. and even google.com was blocked a few days ago(now unblocked), they block lots of sites with different thinking or the truth they don’t want people to see. china has no human rights, fuck gfw, fuck chinese gov. if you continue do this foolish thing, then you’r not far from an end
“Two weeks ago, the government had already blocked just about every Google service, including communication tools like Gmail, Google Apps and Google Talk.” is error !!!!
I am living mainland china now, but Two weeks ago, I am using Gmail, Google Apps and Google Talk ,It is ok ! the report is error!!!!
I can’t describe how angry I am. How the **** do I communicate with people without facebook if they’re out of towners? Lame and ignorant to a tee.
I thought Twitter was nearly unblockable… Anyone who could explain whether it is or not, and why ??
China would be so great if it wasn’t for this crap, what a shame.
So true!!
All of my good memories in China are erased. Will be going home with only anger inside me. Totally gay!
some updated infos http://www.web2...anned-in-china/
how LONG will the Chinese people allow their government to abuse them as human beings?
Interestingly, many of the Chinese people approve of their governments actions. Kinda like we in the US approved of Bush by giving him a second term.
When it comes to facebook and internet, it’s not so bad, but torture and constant monitoring are the really worrying things to have to deal with on a daily life basis.
Maybe you’ve never been there, but I have. Most people there do not deal with torture and constant monitoring on a daily basis. Daily life in urban China: get up, eat breakfast, go to work, take a lunch break, get off work, eat dinner, watch TV, go to bed. Maybe you’re being monitored but probably less so than in modern-day Britain, for example.
The facts that the GFW exists and that political dissidents are maltreated are both bad, but they are not personally relevant to the vast majority of Chinese citizens.
All true. People are happy with their government and their lives here, and aside from not going on Twitter or some random site for some time it’s not very different from other countries. I’m not sure where the west gets their ideas regarding this.
What does effect a large number of people though is the corruption.
It’s not like they can get a new identity and leave, it’s probably easier for a woman to leave her sadistic mate than for people to leave China..
Coming from the guy whose country commits false flag operations.
Your country parades words like “Freedom” and “Liberty” when it should be speaking truth like “War mongers” and “War Machine.”
How the f*** would you know, I bet you 不会写或说中文－还没来中国，对不对？
Sphincter.
http://www.your...thesubject.com/
I bet you 不会写或说中文－还没来中国，对不对？
可能他不可以但是我能读还有手中文。我是美国人住在北京。我的国家有很多问题但是美国人可以表明观点， 你呢？Bush非常不好最多的美国人真不喜欢所以我们对表明观点Obama。你能不能表明观点？你叫我们“War mongers” 和 “War Machine” 我同意一点但是最多的美国人喜欢和平。我觉得人都喜欢和平。
林青阳
Dude ur chinese sucks lol, did u get that from babelfish or something?
hey stoping worrying about us ..its none of ur business and we dont need u to rescue us .
I just flew into Beijing and am here for a month. What fricking bad timing. No access to Twitter and Facebook is driving me slowly insane – if Gmail got blocked again I think I’d be on the next plane outta here.
Agree. I’ve been in Guangzhou for three months now and facebook and twitter have been an access into the outside world. I’m not liking this one bit. I really don’t see how blocking vital information can help their people at all. It disappoints me.
hola andrea, im in guangzhou too, what are you doing? here
Isn’t there a company with no vowels in its name that is offering a P2P Twitter service? Thought I read about it here although I could be confused.
And they say China is the way of the future… A future in Iran maybe!
fuck GFW, fuck China government, fuck HU Jintao, fuck WEN Jiabao, fuck China officer. and so on.
agreed. and for all you chinese noobs out there, these comments are only directed at the chinese government and NOT the country itself. I am sure most people would agree that the country itself is great – great culture, great food, great people etc.
however, the government’s media policies needs to be open. People here aren’t ridiculing the ruling body as a whole, but the impression is quite disturbing as we all know how this reflect some communist tragedies in the past.
china is cool, but yo the government sucks balls.
You know I usually refrain from comment on this site, but in this case curiosity has gotten the better of me I’m afraid.
I find myself wondering how, exactly, would you guys propose the government of China handle something like this. What I mean is that this incident would be akin to hundreds of American black guys walking through the streets of say, downtown Boston, with sticks, knives, rocks and batons and beating a couple of hundred white people senseless. Or vice versa in say, Atlanta. On both sides of the extremism in this case, China is dealing with some REALLY bad guys.
Now I’m not saying that you censor that news, but I am saying that it should be reported responsibly. Broadcasting footage of large groups of white guys beating a black grandmother to death, for instance, is irresponsible. The users of YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook are, sometimes, irresponsible. Happily for them, the government of China is able to censor any news source that will act irresponsibly in this case.
I guess, in short, that I am uncertain as to how stoking Han and Hui hatred of Uyghurs would help matters. That is what the release of footage like we saw on the BBC yesterday would do. The government of China, to their credit, doesn’t want to give anyone the chance to do so. And I personally agree that stoking Han nationalism is something to be avoided. But I do wonder about the opinions of others in this regard.
Cleo, I am curious where you are from?
I am from the United States. Wisconsin to be exact. Knowledge of China via study in Beijing and living in Ningbo. (Small city south of Shanghai, well, small by Chinese standards, ~5 million, more than entire state of Wisconsin)
Why?
I just wondered where you got your warped sense of censorship from. How is showing actual footage of what is going on not reporting responsibly? That’s what the BBC is good at – reporting news stories as they are – not via some Government filter. And the Chinese public should be allowed the same rights – to show and tell the world what is going on in their own country.
I visited Rwanda once, and was told of another well meaning Westerner was said to have made the same argument you are making shortly before 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed. By normally nice people whipped into a frenzy by seeing ‘innocuous’ footage. At the time General Dallaire agitated for his deportation, but it was too late.
History is replete with examples of free speech used irresponsibly. More generally, it is replete with the aftermath of the implementation of rigid, unyielding ideology. From Bush in Iraq, to the bankers on Wall Street, to the ghost cities in the Congo that stand eerie witness to the ‘goodness’ of unbending ideologues.
Travel the dark corners of the world. Have a man guide you to a field of skeletons, using the one eye that the rebels left him. Have his daughter accompany you on this trip, with the cheer that only a child can muster, hobbling on the one leg the rebels left her. And then talk to me about ‘warped’ ideologies.
There are human rights. And when you view the world in all its glory, good and bad, you will concede that there are human responsibilities as well. My question was simple. What do we do when people demand their human rights to facilitate their desire to shirk their human responsibilities.
Is it your intention to address my question, or to simply hurl invectives at me for daring to have a different life experience than your own?
The problem is reporting of China events is somewhat distorted in Western media for political reasons. BBC, CNN etc reports are all tainted with some political twists. Do you really believe the BBC/CNN etc is telling you the stories as they are?
Well said Cleo. This deserves a “comment of the day.”
In some countries when the news gets reported, that’s when the bomb strike hits its target, know what I mean?
lol, it’s your wife using the other computer. Does it matter?
Does it help to solve a problem if you prevent people from talking about it?
What is the “offical” US policy of cutting communications? Does it exist?
I just spoke with someone in China this very moment live. They report the people rioting are really bad people. I did also wonder “what if this happened here [ in the USA ]“.
What happened after you-know-what-date, that was pretty bad for some in America at the time.
ditto.
Its okay, the US government just listens in on your convoz and tracks on ur facebookz. Totally democratic.
Cleo, your comment thread is well-written and expressed. It shows open-minded rationalism, as well as the empathetic experience of someone well versed in multi-cultural and political issues, and deeply cognizant of humanity. Thank you for writing and giving your thoughtful perspective.
First, I am a Chinese person who’s live half my life in the US and the other half in China.
I agree that the Chinese government’s actions may not be very different than what other government would do under the same circumstances. People who keeps on calling everything that the Chinese government does “terrorist” simply has not been exposed to anything but sensationalized media in the West.
If Hawaii wants to claim independence, American ain;t gonna let it go, believe me.
However, this does not qualify the government to block the truth by covering up facts, news and freedom of speech. If God didn’t want us to have that freedom, we wouldn’t be growing mouths.
And the thing that pisses me off is that the Chinese government is ALWAYS driven by fear, as is the rest of the people in China. They fear that the news of the sort will stir up mobs. They fear anything happening out of the ordinary in this country. That worry is fair. But covering up things is not. In fact, honesty just isn’t not a virtue that anyone practice here. I am shocked upon my turn to this country, that everyone tells white lies, just to save face. And SAVING FACE is everything for the government and its people. Because “shame” is widely educated in our history.
But to be very fair, China is great in so many ways that others who’s not been here would not know. Really, remove your judgement before we come and live here for a while.
Cleo, what is up with the”hundreds of AMERICAN BLACK GUYS walking through the streets of say, downtown Boston, with sticks, knives, rocks and batons and beating a couple of hundred white people senseless?”
You lost my respect at that point, girl. Shame on you to assume things about black guys. Because then you allow others to label you as a stereotype that people already incline to. Why have bias and assume things about others. I have friends from almost all races all over the world. All I can say is that most of my black friends are the kindest people I know. And aren’t we not all people. Or are you saying you are better than others?
You sound educated, then it just went down hill from there. Repent.
China trying to stop progress in human rights and democracy, no way! The old ways are dying, time to wake up China and join the human race!
I hate hearing those blanketed statements about “human rights.” This is not a human rights issue. The catalyst that started these violent riots may… may have had some REMOTE relevancy to one or two human rights issue. However, curtailing violence on the streets by one large group of citizens against an entire large group of citizens is NOT a human rights matter. It is a matter of civil order and to an extent, national security.
Intellectual laziness causes us to throw out terms like human rights, racist, and oppression without knowing the background facts.
If you really look into “ethnic” unrest in China, you will realize a startling similarity between the resentment toward the Han Chinese and the resentment toward the Jews in Europe pre-WWII. Then you will ask: “who is the real victim?”
Fastest growing country….yeah maybe…the problem is the direction which they are growing
It is clear now to what extend the communist China is afraid of the social media.
http://www.youtechno.info
please i want to access my FACEBOOK:) HOW CAN I SURVIVE WITHOUT IT????
agreeeeeeee…. cannot survive w/out fb.. a lot of memories there..
I agree, thats all I want, its hard enough living here as it is without loosing a conection to friends and family.
why they dont censure the whole world wide web?
ultimately i’ll think their movin towards bannin english altogether!
Who, China? guess they block content, just like where I am now. I think blocking content is okay to a point, but not every opinion that’s negative, that’s too much in the wrong direction. Some views are wrong, or detrimental to the gov’t.
China has all kinds of problems though, the internet is only one. But whose fault is it? it’s her fault..
@cleo, wouldn’t the analogy (or should that be “apologist” be “hundreds of Asian Americans walking through the streets of say, downtown Boston, with sticks, knives, rocks and batons and beating a couple of hundred white people senseless?”
the proper analogy would be a bunch of extremeists (or extremist sentiments) making a protest (with guns, burning everything they see in sight) in the Baghdad.
NO US ARMY!! DEYZ PEACEFULLZ!
@nostupidcomments, no, because Asian Americans do not have racial tensions with white Americans. Cleo’s analogy is: Uyghur and Han Chinese have a history of racial tension — African Americans and white Americans have a history of racial tension.
The more important aspect to me is contacting friends and family in the region, who are now innaccessible by normal means of communication (courier pigeon?).
Current talk about human rights are purely speculative at this point. There are rumors everywhere, and a volatile situation like this can easily lead to greater violence.
In one aspect, you can’t help but see why the government has issued the comm blackout. These racially charged things generally lead to more (just read some youtube comments, trolls are everywhere).
That said, I am a firm believer in freedom of speech. However, there is so much speculation at this point. We think that the reason for he riots stem from a rumor of two hans raping a uighur. No one seems to know if this really happened, though. This rumor led to the fight that killed two uighurs, which led to the latest violence.
As always, every self interest group is trying to take their own spin on things. I think we need to wait before we make judgment. If the US were judged by their past actions, we’d be a bunch of slave owning, uneducated hicks looking to take people’s land.
There’s something called Tor…search it up on google. They have it blocked though, so search up Tor mirror site. Install it, it’s available for Mac and Windows, and Linux I think. You’ll be able to access Facebook and Twitter then…
thx!!!
Oh, but it’s OK cos they manufacture the iPhone – better not complain *too* much social media dweebs, huh?
I’m in China. Facebook is not available – BUT you can still use the Facebook app on your iPhone to access Facebook
even the iphone app is inaccessible… gives a time out error and leaves you with a blank page… the horror!
Like someone previously said (sorry, to lazy to @ you), the issue isn’t about human rights and blocking progress. This is about curtailing violence, and though heavy handed, few governments are really all that good at blocking such deeply ingrained resentment.
The catalyst for the riots were a reported rumor about two hans raping a uyghur, followed by a fight at a factory in some city where two uyghurs were killed. Are these human rights violations? We simply don’t know all the facts. Maybe the hans are undergoing trial, or already in jail. Even so, the fight was based on a rumor, that as far as anyone can tell, was unsubstantiated.
Can you blame the government for a media blackout then? I mean, big boohoo, they blocked youtube and twitter. Have you SEEN some of the comments on those sites? Trolls are everywhere.
That said, I’m a huge believer in the freedom to communicate. My main concern is that I have family that I cannot contact right now, and a grandmother who lived not two blocks from the epicenter of the riots.
I know the tendency for us nerds to exude righteous fury whenever we get a chance, but I think this age of anonymous irresponsibility needs to be replaced with temperance…
But there was not really much of an established link between the racial violence and Facebook.
Most mainland Chinese Facebook users are young upper class people whose sympathies are with the status quo. Hardly the people to start a riot one way or the other.
Wow, no mention of MySpace. Looks like Dani Dudeck needs to start blowing some China men.
igoogle’s twittergadget still works
i could access facebook thorugh a proxy but not update…
Totally support China gov’s decision. It’s good for current situation. You guys only know say this is no good, you don’t know how native people feel.
Oh yes I do I work and live here youd be suprised at the feelings against govt, education, social welfare, talk to your own people and find out.
Great to see the patsies, stooges, and apologists for the Chinese totalitarian governtment are out in force (including the ones resident in America). The only reason access is blocked of course is that China again – like in Tibet – has plenty to hide.
And you think the US do not have anything to hide? How about that trillion dollars debt to China? Don’t you think they try to hide anything (Democrats made this mess yet Americans still chose Obama). What a joke.
That debt was done by Bush, not Clinton. He decided to go after Saddam and his oil and not BinLaden and his caves.
I also think USA has shown very clearly their mistakes with the Bush regime and hopefully no other president will repeat those mistakes.
But if we cannot learn from the China government mistakes done today, then how can the future leaders avoid the same issues from repeating themselves?
have u been to Tibet? have you been to China and lived with the people for a while? not talking about, “hey look the great wall” First experience, then comment plz.
when will the chinese people stand up to the government over this nonsense? how can they tolerate it?
It’s easier said than done obviously…
Chinese don’t use twitter and facebook.
Because we have QQ.
hehe..
Isn’t this a WTO violation similar to:
http://www.poke...-gambling-2940/
This is stupid. They should not block them.
Can something be done about this from a technological standpoint? I’m not talking about proxy servers…
Crazy-how can they do this..where is the justice!!
All I know is I don’t plan on using facebook to talk about any of the recent events in xinjiang, I just use it to keep in touch with my family and friends, and it’s more than a little frustrating to have this direct access taken away.
To all the political stuff: AHH! All governments have SOMETHING wrong with them, most of them have hundreds of years of history, and are led by human beings (since when was the last time one person was able to make the PERFECT choice for millions of other people?); how can you expect it to be perfect? Societies are also different from one another, so something one society deems okay another might not. Cultures are different, so what one culture accepts, another might not accept so easily. What one people understands and lives with everyday another might scorn. Please don’t say “my government/country is perfect, but yours has a bunch of idiots”, because that just kind of proves the opposite point. Thanks.
Honestly, it’s a cyber restrain system that shouldn’t exist for a country that wants to develop further. And the local websites are already heavily monitored in the first place.
I am currently in China near Beijing have been for a year, facebook in not accessible still. Myspace is accessible. No problem accessing foriegn media websites… so the whole keeping the people in China in the dark about the happenings in western china doesnt wash. I can sit in apt in the evening and watch western broadcasts of the events.
Most people in China are like most people in the US, they have zero interest in politics. I find the government much less obtrusive to the every day person in China then in the US. In the US there are so many laws dictating what you can and cannot do, which people in China are perfectly capable of doing without being harrassed by police as they would be in the US. Yes you cannot march in the street shouting threats to the government, but most Chinese I know have little interest in this. Certainly the government here has mad some bad moves… as has the US.. Can you say Waco Texas?
the thing is that a lot of people in the west have absolutely NO clue as to what the actual challenge is here in china. it took me years to understand it, little by little: our western ideas of how media work simply do not work. and, in addition, they don’t seem to work in the west anymore, either – hiding and blocking is more and more becoming an accepted solution to social problems.
but let’s stick with the idealistic western notion of the enlightened citizen: here, there is no such thing. for one, the “individual” works in a completely different way, and second, there’s no education about scepticism and no critical media reception. since nobody will say that TV lies, everybody thinks the TV is right.
but there’s a twist: of course there are very intelligent chinese people. of course the “TV is right” is not entirely true: but the criticism and disbelief comes through the backdoor. it isn’t blatant, obvious and rightous. in a way, it is a lot more intelligent, subtle and even productive than criticism in the west.
another thing is to look at how many good and practical ideas there are on how to run this (huge) country. it’s been called the “russia excuse” – but frankly, i do think it is worth a thought. look at russia in the 90s, and then decide how good an idea it was to turn russia into a “democracy” that hurriedly … so, my guess is that should china become a “democracy” now, it would have huge diffuclties keeping the country in check. remember, this is the largest country in the world, with roughly 1/5th of the world’s population living here. wether you like it or not: without an iron rule, this country will split in no-time, into several, small countries – and most of them will be incredibly poor.
apparently, the protests started off ignited by some problems among uigur and han workers in a guandong factory. in a move to equalize income throughout the country, the chinese government obligated manufactures in guandong to employ uigur people.
that said, facebook being blocked is a bit of a hassle, but don’t go around pointing your fingers at the chinese government claiming they’re all evil. if there wasn’t at least some people left in the west (i’m talking mostly about europe), the governments there would do exactly the same things. they want to, anyways, but apparently, right now, they think blocking child porn is all they can get away with.
Leaving aside my utter frustration at not being able to connect to ppl and not being able to arrange to meet up with ppl I met in China as we only have each others FB details – as in the greater scheme these things are petty points.
A poster earlier said the government was dealing with some really bad people – WTF? The Uighers have, very much like Tibet, had their culture eroded since 1949. No-one sits outside the embassy with Free the Uighers flags like they do for Tibet. I dunno why – perhaps cos they’re not as cute, their corner of the planet isn’t as beautiful or is it because the world loves a buddhist and hasn’t got the time for the Muslim’s? Could I be even more cynical and suggest it’s because the majority of ignorant couch surfers think that the Uighers are terrorists…
I didn’t know a huge amount about the plight of these people until a year ago and I still know very little – without living there for a prolonged period and seeing it with your own eyes I don’t think it’s possible to know. But what I *DO* know is that for over 50 years there has been a steady stream of Han Chinese into this area and it is diluting the local ethnic traditions THE SAME AS IN TIBET. The local people on the whole peacefully protest against this THE SAME AS IN TIBET. The Chinese Police will use a protest, turn it bloody and report only one side THE SAME AS IN TIBET.
And as for saying this isn’t a human rights issue – would you care to be more ignorant please? How is the right the free speech NOT a human rights issue? It is the MOST terrifying human rights violation because it’s so seemingly innocuous – even “intelligent” and “educated” posters on this forum seem to think it’s ok.
Sadly, unless the Chinese people decide enough is enough our interpretation of the censorship endemic in this country is meaningless.
For the record, I’m British and I think there are shocking human rights abuses across the planet – the US and the UK are certainly among some of the worst.
Fucked up people!!! I’m in Shanghai and now feel like in prison with no access to Youtube, Blogspot and now Facebook!!!! Seems like they’ll never unblock those sites again!!!!!
Fuck them, those sites have nothing to do with their problems!!!
Living in China now is like living in prison, they control everything, every movement, it sucks!!!!
ansavnukr, you must be living in a different China then I am. I freely travel all over China with my Chinese friends. Amazing that today we think access to youtube and Facebook are god given rights and necessary to happiness…. things which didn’t even exist a few years ago. In my opinion in the grand scheme of things… very minor inconvienences. There are about a bizillion other ways to communicate with people via internet
Haha, ya it’s called Skype, end of story, quit complaining like little girls! I live in Xi’an for business and love it, the people, my friends, the food and especially the ladies!!
Wow I live in China and im 17 and can do anything I want except go on Facebook and Youtube OMG my life is over…….. seriously man stop winning your way to old to be complain over a few internet websites at least we have youku you can buy movies for 5RMB here can buy a shot for 10 beer for 5 anything you want so cheap here everything is you must have no friends and no life if you cant find something to do in Shanghai
i’m moving to China in a few months. Dear God, how will I talk to anyone? without gmail, facebook, or twitter. ack.
roxie I just moved here from the states, it’s not as bad, you’ll get used to it. Email me if you need anything. robby303@yahoo.com
I am Chinese. I don’t know why there are so many arrogant people hate China. Do you know China? Have you ever been to China? Do you know the situation in my country? Where do you gain your grudge against my country? What would you do if you are the one to decide how to cope with such an incident? Are you sure you will have a better solution for this?
I like foreigners,I like USA,but I don’t like your arrogant attitude to Chinese.
说得好
I am Chinese too..But I deeply feel ashamed by what the government did of blocking Facebook. A strong and powerful government would not do something chicken like this, ok? When 911 happened back then, did US block all the websites which had connection with mid-east?? And also, it is ridiculous to block one site; WHY? People still can talk through any other ways, so the best way: block everything, Internet, phone, post mails…. What you can’t block is people’s will. Get what I mean?! I’d better backup all my email contacts in case one day Hotmail and MSN are blocked…
I think you are the only person who has made any sense in this entire conversation.
I am a South African and totally agree.
I fully agree too. The reason that most of us using Facebook is to stay connect with our friends & family… especially if you are a foreigner working in China. I have Chinese friends but I also want to know all the updated news about my friends & family overseas. Working in China is not an easy task, the only thing that release my stressful working life is to check my facebook before going to bed. I am not asking for more, just unblock facebook please….. not interested in politics at all……
Its better block web sites in china, than catch every muslim people after 911 in USA!!!
Most Americans do *not* hate China… but we despise the form of government that robs people of their God-given liberties!
Please learn to sense the difference!
We are complaining about your terrible government. It is not the same as saying we don’t like China. We do like China and care for Chinese people and their freedoms!
If we didn’t care for Chinese people we wouldn’t be spending our time here talking about how upset we are at how the government treats their people!
How about the government gives freedom of speech back to the people?!!? How about the government cracks down on industrial pollution which sickens it’s people in the name of “progress” -???
Of course we don’t hate Chinese… we care for Chinese peoples!!!
Just curious, have you ever talked to a Chinese person that lives in China about how they feel about this? I think these liberties are more of a cultural belief than an innate right, and I think it’s important to gauge what the Chinese people want themselves before imposing western ideology. The only Chinese I typically see that want China to change its ways are the ones in the US, Taiwan, and Hong Kong–and many of the ones in the US don’t even feel this way, they’re just in the US until China’s economy grows some more.
I find it very strange that the government here only blocked the western sites, which are mainly used by foreigners to communicate with the people back home.
All the local “copies” of FaceBook and Twitter are still on, there people can easily meet and set up demonstrations, etc. This is how those riots started in the first place. I really doubt those uneducated demonstrators have FaceBook accounts…
And as a foreigner in China, if I have some damning evidence a block of FaceBook would not stop me from leaking it out, would it?
These blocks just pisses us off anymore and I’m sure there will be one day we all say “we had enough” and things will get really messy…
Also FaceBook is not my main source of news… those sources are still not blocked… yet…
I Loved what china did during the Olympics it’s sad to now see it was a smokescreen to hide the fact the government is just a bunch of jerks.
I am foreign and i am currently living in China.
The situation is horrible. I live in Xi’an. I have been stopped twice in the last 24 hours by police asking for my details and searching me. There has been small protests and riots outside my house, which is mainly Muslim areas. These Muslim streets are currently being demolished by the authorities to make way for new massive plazas and apartment blocks. The local people,as im writing this, are being forced out of their homes and have closed down their stalls. its sickening to watch, honestly.
im not exagerrating when i say this. I have lived in china for over a year and i think the western media is biased and unfair. china is not the repressed and long suffering nation i expected to see. however, this situation in recent weeks has been horrific. the Han chinese have taken over and are destroying minorities and different cultures. WHAT DO YOU EXPECT when you do this.????
also, i cant access most websites at the momenn
Kerry, you serious?? I haven’t been over towards the Muslim streets lately but damn if what you say is true. I will have to check it out. I live in Xi’an as well very close to the Sofitel Hotel in Renmin square. You have been searched and stopped by police??? I have never had an issue, any idea as to why this has happened to you not once but twice. Where you from, hit me up if you like. I’m Dan from Cali
dcuz1981@aol.com,
Dan
Kerry, wow!!! I live in Xi’an as well for a year now and have never had any kind of issue with Police. I was unaware of what has been going on over by the Muslim streets as I haven’t been over there in a couple months. Where are you from and what are you doing here?
dcuz1981@aol.com
Dan
Today, I tried to open facebook but it was blocked by the Chinese government. FML
Is TechCrunch working in China?
Why was it not a target of block.
Techcrunch is fine here.
China tends to only block websites in order to prevent rapidfire rumors from spreading. By slowing the speed of communication the government alleviates much of the misconstrued information, allowing for more sides and a more complete picture of the problem.
It’s really a minor inconvenience, but I’m upset about it. I don’t mind too much because I know that the way news is here, this fighting will be remembered. When things happen here they are remembered, but just not put out publically constantly. In the states, we hear about many deaths and fights and violence, to the point that much of it is forgotten a day or two later. China isn’t like that, the people are warm and friendly. Just today a friend of mine was stopped by a taxi driver, in a city of similar size to Atlanta, who told him that his backpack was open.
There is not as much violence here and I believe that media censorship has a lot to do with that. When some things really bad happen, people know about it. When a guy pushes a man off a bridge who wants to commit suicide, they know.
Now, as to those complaining about the lack of freedom here, it’s not really lacking. The internet, for the most part, works. Everynow and then something will get blocked, but only remains so for a few days. When something important happens, like google being blocked, then people get upset, just as with facebook, and they will figure things out!
Don’t be such negative nancies!
This person is the only one I think who knows what there talking about most of you are insignificant and do not know china like us, why don’t you try to live here you wont wanna go back to the US. I personally like it better here in China.
im a chinese… when such things happens, something is wrong and we, chinese muz know that it does create hell lots of inconvenience to ppl living here…. so, please dont call ppl idots… lets not behave like the N.XXreans……… screwed up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i wan my fb back….!!!
This wont be permantely will it? I live in Beijin.
Youtube has been perma-blocked by that stupid blockade.
Been in China 6 years and I still believe that this way to censor stuff in a global world it’s as stupid as trying to cover the sun with a finger. People is not happy with this… and I’m not talking only about the people complaining about the blocking of these websites, but in general from this STFU they try to do on people.