Newsletter

The Sixth Conference on Computers, Freedom, and Privacy


China Enters Information Age

BySam Hartman

As China enters the information

age and becomes connected to the Internet, issues of cultural stability, economic growth, and conflicts between western and Chinese values arise. At a plenary session Saturday, these issues were discussed.

After a brief introduction by moderator Gary Marx, Professor Xing Li described the state of the Internet in China. Currently, four groups within China link to the global Internet, Li said

Li said that the four networks were not currently connected within China; email or other traffic had to pass over a trans-continental link to get from one network to another

There is some regulation of the Internet in China, Li said. First, all Internet users are required to register with the Public Security Bureau.

Professor Milton Mueller said that many have argued this regulation was impractical. He said that liberal estimates of Internet users in China are around 10,000; registration is reasonably enforcible with that size of a user population

Li said there was one other regulation: only the four networks currently authorized to connect to the outside world may connect directly to the outside

"Still, it's chaos; we have a lot of space in which to work," Li said. He said that in addition to having significant regulatory space, China needs to expand its network significantly.

For example, Cernet, the Chinese Educational and Research Network connects to 108 universities in March, 1996. Eventually, Li said, Cernet will connect to all of China's 10765 universities.

Unique Cultural and Political Climate

During his introduction, Marx said China faces unique political and cultural changes associated with the Internet and other mass media. He said that concepts like privacy do not have a strong analogue in the Chinese language or society

Professor Zaiqing Fang agreed: he said that combining traditional values with the new emerging challenges was an important goal for China

Fang said that several forces are causing China to adopt technology. "Fear of being beaten by the rest of the world is a strong force for the government to adopt new technology," Fang said

Mueller said that forces driving information technology in China were different than in the west

"It is really the system of political economy that shapes the information infrastructure," Mueller said. He said that China has a different political economy; they are seeking technology as a means to increase efficiency and market productivity. He said they do not want the cultural change associated with the technology

However, Mueller said that several developments in China might lead to a more open network. There is competition between the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and the Ministry of Electronics, he said. Instead of recognizing some central authority, the recent regulations recognize all the current players

However, Mueller said that all international traffic must go through the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications

*Hong Kong returns to china

On July 1, 1997, China will take over administration of the government of Hong KONG. This has raised many questions about individual freedoms; these questions also apply to information technology

According to Mark Berthold, Senior Crown Counsel of the Law Reform Commission in Hong Kong, China has not expressed opposition to a a law protecting privacy both in the public and private sector. While this law does not directly address all information infrastructure issues, these issues were considered. For example, he said the law protects ISPS from being responsible for data they do not control--data routed through them

Professor Raymond Wacks said he is not sure how great people's concern about potential privacy invasions should be. He said that Hong Kong's constitution contains several privacy guarantees; this constitution cannot be changed for 50 years


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