Xinhua, the Chinese government news agency, said 30 June that China will allow computer makers more time, retreating from the 1 July deadline set earlier for all new computers to have the Green Dam censorship programme installed, which the government says is designed mainly to protect against pornography. The Financial Times reports that pressure from PC makers and Internet users in China is partly behind the delayed deadline, and that independent tests show the software censors more than porn sites. The government says it is continuing to install the software in Internet cafes and schools.
US Embassy representatives in Beijing met with Chinese officials from two ministries in Beijing Friday 19 June to discuss China’s tough new restrictions on Internet access and to ask China to engage in dialogue about the issues raised by the curbs on access. In what the Financial Times describes as a “rare direct intervention by the US over internet freedom, which has steadily risen in importance as an issue between the two countries in recent years” the US State Department is saying that the free flow of information but also trade issues are at stake. China will require all new computers sold from 1 July to have Green Dam filtering software. China 18 June ordered Google to prevent access to web sites outside China, citing pornography concerns. The US-based company has recently overtaken Baidu, the main Chinese search engine. Xinhua
