This Article Cannot be Viewed in China

This Article Cannot be Viewed in China
By Julia Garrison

In China almost all media and news is owned by the state. If you were trying to view this article in China, the page would simply say “this webpage cannot be displayed.”

Rather than living in a culture where hot topics are continually debated by the public and reporters work around the clock to deliver the latest news, the people of China are continually left in the dark and completely reliant on the government to ration out their proper servings of awareness.

Benzrad, a citizen journalist in China who writes at http://www.be21zh.org/, has experienced the censorship firsthand. He explained that the government controls internet use by registering all computers. “Every computer, even those in Internet cafes, has a dedicated watch dog.” This means computers must be accessed with a government ID which is used to monitor and record Internet activity at all times.

Although Benzrad was able to use proxies years ago, the government’s leash has tightened, making free access to news and information impossible. He is now only able continue running his website with help from a friend living in America that registered for him. His blog is currently blocked from all users in China.

In addition to monitoring computers, the Chinese government has created what many refer to as “The Great Firewall”.

“The Great Firewall” is named in reference both to its role as a network firewall and to the past Great Wall of China. The system consists of standard firewalls and proxy servers at the Internet gateways that block internet content by keeping IP addresses from being routed through. The wall also selectively performs DNS poisoning when certain sites are requested.

Last Tuesday, June 2, Chinese internet uses were blocked from usage of Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, and Bing because of the 20th Anniversary of the Tiananmen Square event.

Benzrad believes the Chinese people are too afraid of the government’s power to act out. The majority of citizens are simply concerned with the ability to support their families. They are unable to sacrifice the jobs provided them by the administration and “only recognize the green paper, the money that can improve their lives for now, and are unwilling to consider the long term consequences.”

Nonetheless, you can’t blame people for wanting to protect themselves from harm. Benzrad described multiple instances where journalists were swiftly removed from their positions or exiled after reporting unpopular opinions. In order to survive as a journalist in China, only approved material may be printed. Journalists in China have “no backbone” says Benzrad.

Benzrad will continue to post what he can on his blog. He believes it is his duty to do so and says “I know now I was chosen to follow my fate, to resume God’s glory, to resume my ancestor's glory, on this old land. I can be meaningless like the wind or breeze, or I can be as significant as the highest monument people must raise their heads to see.”


Julia Garrison is Editor of Thisisdiversity.com

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Sadly, the United States under president usurper Soetoro/Obama appears headed in the dangerous direction of overprotective China.

www.davidbenariel.org