|
Nov. 15, 2000, 7:14PM Internet Freedom: China's rulers still jailing online dissidentsChina's communist leaders continue to control the Internet, stifling freedom of expression among China's thinkers and questioners by jailing anyone who dares post anti-government articles online. Pathological fear of truth and an ignorance that is inherent to autocratic rule, as practiced by President Jiang Zemin and his cronies, have resulted in the imprisonment of two Chinese journalists on charges of subversion resulting from material they posted on the Internet. The Committee to Protect Journalists, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that works to defend freedom of the press around the world, is protesting the arrests and imprisonments of Huang Qi and his wife, Zeng Li, on June 3, a day before the 11th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, for material they placed on the Internet that was deemed as anti-government. Zeng was later released, but Huang is still in jail. Free-lance reporter Qi Yanchen has been in prison for almost a year for allegedly "spreading anti-government messages via the Internet." Attempts by China's rulers to control the Internet and the thoughts of China's people will ultimately be in vain. Tyrants and dictators cannot long withstand the light of exposure that the Internet, faxes, cell phones and other modern communication technologies have brought to the world. The Chinese government should respect freedom. China's long-closed society will not bloom or prosper without freedom, and without freedom China cannot take its place as a great and civilized nation. Meanwhile, China's leaders should realize they cannot control what's on the Internet and they should immediately free Huang and Yanchen.
|
| Click on banner for more information | |||||
|
