THE DECLINE AND FALL OF RED CHINA

Datong, shown outside the China Youth Daily, challenged a plan to dock reporters' pay if government officials took issue with their stories. The speed and power of the Internet helped launch a campaign that ultimately compelled a government retreat from the plan. (By Philip P. Pan -- The Washington Post)

"The Great Firewall of China"

The Washington Post has posted a big three-part series by Phillip Pan on the effect of the Internet in China. Pan is one of the best American correspondents in China, so this series is guaranteed to make rewarding reading. This is more indication that Communist China is in the process of falling apart -- Censorship is the glue that holds together the People's Republic -- and all indications from reading this series of articles are that the glue is no longer holding due to the large numbers of Chinese making use of the Internet.

http://tinyurl.com/9jdmw

The Click That Broke a Government's Grip

By Phillip P. Pan,

Washington Post

February 19 2006

"The top editors of the China Youth Daily were meeting in a conference room last August when their cell phones started buzzing quietly with text messages. One after another, they discreetly read the notes. Then they traded nervous glances. Colleagues were informing them that a senior editor in the room, Li Datong, had done something astonishing. Just before the meeting, Li had posted a blistering letter on the newspaper's computer system attacking the Communist Party's propaganda czars and a plan by the editor in chief to dock reporters' pay if their stories upset party officials. No one told the editor in chief. For 90 minutes, he ran the meeting, oblivious to the political storm that was brewing. Then Li announced what he had done. The chief editor stammered and rushed back to his office, witnesses recalled. But by then, Li's memo had leaked and was spreading across the Internet in countless e-mails and instant messages."

http://tinyurl.com/qq4fp

Reference Tool on Web Finds Fans, Censors

By Phillip P. Pan,

Washington Post

February 20 2006

Officials tolerated Wikipedia at first, perhaps because it seemed to be exactly what the party had in mind when it began promoting Internet use 11 years ago--an educational resource that could help China close its technological gap with the West, encourage innovation and boost economic growth. But as the Chinese Wikipedia flourished, the authorities apparently came to see it as another threat to the party's control of information, and an example of an even more worrying development. The Internet has emerged as a venue for people with shared interests--or grievances--to meet, exchange ideas and plan activities without the party's knowledge or approval.

http://tinyurl.com/ngxts

Bloggers Pursuing Change Confront Fear and Mistrust

By Phillip P. Pan

Washington Post

February 21 2006

Many rallied to support Zhao, but some objected to his "Western" views and said he deserved to be silenced. Others, especially those with a financial stake in the industry, said they worried Zhao's writing could lead officials to impose tighter controls on blogging. And a few said they were pleased that Microsoft had been forced to comply with the same censorship rules that its Chinese rivals obey. The story of Zhao's blog--and the ambivalence it met in cyberspace--demonstrates that those trying to use the Internet to foster political change in China must contend not only with the censors but also with the apathy, fear and mistrust of their fellow citizens.