China is sticking to its planned launch of a controversial Internet censoring software in about one week, an official newspaper said yesterday, despite Washington’s concerns over the move’s possible impact on trade and access to information.
The China Daily said the plan to require the Web-filtering Green Dam Youth Escort software on all personal computers sold in China starting on July 1 remains unchanged, citing an unnamed source from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. It is to be pre-installed or included on a compact disc with all PCs sold in China.
The report came amid efforts by Chinese Web surfers to lobby the communist government to scrap its plan and after the US embassy said US diplomats sat down on Friday with officials of China’s ministries of commerce and information technology to express concern and seek more information about the system.
“The US is concerned about actions that seek to restrict access to the Internet as well as restrictions on the internationally recognized right to freedom of expression,” the embassy said in a statement on Monday.
“The US government is concerned about Green Dam both in terms of its potential impact on trade and the serious technical issues raised by use of the software,” it said. “We have asked the Chinese to engage in a dialogue on how to address these concerns.”
Chinese officials say the Internet filtering is an effort to block access to violent and pornographic material. But Internet users have ridiculed the system and some are circulating petitions appealing to the government to scrap it.
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
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A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
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