The Epoch Times

Oct 20, 2004

New Haven, CT -- "500,000 foreign websites are now blocked in the name of 'protecting Chinese children from being exposed to foreign pornography,'" said China expert Erping Zhang in a lecture at Yale University. While autumn rain beat at the windows, about fifty Yale students - mostly from China - gathered in the lecture room to listen. Zhang gave a lecture on the "Politics of Chinese Media" at Yale University on Oct 15.

Zhang criticized the Chinese press, calling it, "state-controlled propaganda." He said, forbidden topics for the press include the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, the Falun Gong spiritual movement, abortion, and other human rights issues. With its $800 million firewall, he described how the Chinese government also prohibits its citizens from accessing foreign websites, including the BBC, Time magazine, the Wall Street Journal, overseas Falun Gong sites and pro-democracy sites.

"Due to the lack of legal protection, many Chinese reporters are facing increasing physical violence when attempting to investigate corruption or other scandalous stories," Zhang said.

According to reports, 42 Chinese reporters have been jailed for their coverage of politically sensitive issues.

After the lecture, Hao Wang, a student born and raised in China, said, "The Chinese government is taking away people's freedom of speech, and controlling the Internet and media. I think he brings this to light. More should be done to highlight this. It's a very relevant and pressing issue that many students in China are facing today."

According to Zhang, the problem is not confined to China.

"There is a disturbing trend in Chinese media in the United States. Beijing is making a deliberate effort to control the Chinese media here and has made marked progress in this regard. Through direct ownership, offering business opportunities, buying air time or commercial pages, and deployment of pro-Beijing staff in the press here, China has essentially controlled the majority of the Chinese media in the United States," said Zhang.

Howard Yin of the Chinese-language TV station New Tang Dynasty Television said, "That's why we started New Tang Dynasty. We wanted to give Chinese people a real objective look at what's going in China and the world." NTD TV is a nonprofit organization based in New York. It broadcasts globally via satellite, however, the Chinese government has been blocking NTD TV's signal from transmitting in China.

Erping Zhang is a Mason Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University. A former member of the Chinese Government, Mr. Zhang began his research on Chinese media at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy during the SARS outbreak. He has spoken on the subject of Internet censorship in China before the U.S. Congress, the European Parliament, and the World Summit on Information Society.

Zhang ended one segment by saying, "There should be freedom of information in the world, so that all individuals have free access to different sources of information. Fully informed citizens can better serve and stabilize society, while fear of an educated and informed populace is a slap in the face to the masses."

Source: http://english.epochtimes.com/news/4-10-20/23877.html