In the second of what appears to be a series in the Washington Post, writer Philip Pan has this longish piece on the perils of blogging in China, and the difficulties faced by U.S. Internet companies doing business there. The article focuses on a famous incident involving journalist and blogger Zhao Jing, also known by the pen name Anti.
Zhao ran a blog in China that teetered on being pro-democracy and critical of the government. But, a posting that criticized the firing of editors at the Beijing News prompted Chinese officials to ask Microsoft (Zhao’s blog was on MSN Spaces) to yank the blog for being in violation of laws that bar political speech on blogs. Microsoft complied, although clearly the company was sympathetic to Zhao — it offered to give him a disc back-up of his blog.
But the interesting part of Pan’s article is not how Microsoft caved to the Chinese government but rather the contempt that some bloggers in China hold for Zhao.
One popular Shanghai blogger, who declined to be identified, compared Zhao to an airline passenger who stands up and curses hijackers. “He makes the other passengers uncomfortable and nervous,” the blogger said. “What he is saying might be right, but it makes the situation unpredictable, and perhaps more dangerous for everyone.”
Pan will hold an online discussion today at 11 am ET on the Post’s website to discuss his series.
Cynthia Brumfield at 9:59 AM|Comments(0)
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