I will leave it to the more ambitious to do a section-by-section breakdown of the Chinese State Council’s recent white paper on the internet. But since internet freedom of speech and related issues therein are among the most contentious in China, I will highlight a couple excerpts on this issue that deserve some fire.
First, in Section III, the CCP describes the important position the internet has acquired as a tool of governmental “supervision”. So there is no denying that the government realizes the power of the internet in connecting citizens. Moreover, the white paper says:
“Chinese citizens fully enjoy freedom of speech on the Internet. The Constitution of the People’s Republic of China confers on Chinese citizens the right to free speech. With their right to freedom of speech on the Internet protected by the law, they can voice their opinions in various ways on the Internet.”
However, in Section IV, which covers internet security, the government says the following:
” … no organization or individual may produce, duplicate, announce or disseminate information having the following contents: being against the cardinal principles set forth in the Constitution; endangering state security, divulging state secrets, subverting state power and jeopardizing national unification; damaging state honor and interests; instigating ethnic hatred or discrimination and jeopardizing ethnic unity; jeopardizing state religious policy, propagating heretical or superstitious ideas; spreading rumors, disrupting social order and stability; disseminating obscenity, pornography, gambling, violence, brutality and terror or abetting crime; humiliating or slandering others, trespassing on the lawful rights and interests of others; and other contents forbidden by laws and administrative regulations. These regulations are the legal basis for the protection of Internet information security within the territory of the People’s Republic of China. All Chinese citizens, foreign citizens, legal persons and other organizations within the territory of China must obey these provisions.”
The contradictions here are obvious. Aside from throwing in the always-present yet ill-defined phrase “state secrets”, the restrictions include things as broad and unspecific as “jeopardizing ethnic unity”, “humiliating others”, disrupting social order”, and even “spreading rumors”.
How can a person “fully enjoy freedom of speech” without being allowed to spread rumors?!
Apparently, this is why the CCP decided to keep the security and rights totally separated; this way, they don’t have to deal with the tough job of clearly negotiating the two. Until they do, they will continue to be doubletalking the Chinese people.