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China has delayed indefinitely a much-criticised plan to force
manufacturers to bundle Internet filtering software with personal
computers sold in the country, in an abrupt retreat hours before
the policy was due to start.
The climbdown was reported late on Tuesday by the official Xinhua
news agency, which said the Ministry of Industry and Information
Technology would delay the mandatory installation of the
controversial 'Green Dam-Youth Escort' filtering software on new
computers.
The Green Dam plan, which officials said was to stamp out Internet
pornography banned in China, was to start on Wednesday, but had
been assailed by critics of censorship, industry groups and
Washington officials as politically intrusive, technically
ineffective and commercially unfair.
No new date was given and the plan may drift into oblivion.
At a time when China's ruling Communist Party appears increasingly
sure of its powers to master the economy, society and the internet,
the retreat was a vivid reminder that this sprawling government can
stumble on its own ambitions.
"They never expected the backlash would be so vehement," said Wang
Junxiu, an internet entrepreneur in Beijing who has objected to
Green Dam and other forms of censorship.
"This will just peter out now and the government will hope it will
be soon forgotten, I'd say."
The Ministry accepted the criticisms of computer companies, but
left open the possibility of the censorship scheme returning in
some form. And there can be no doubt that the ruling Communist
Party remains wary of the Internet, which now has some 300 million
users across China.
"Some businesses pointed out the heavy amount of work, time
pressures and lack of preparation," an unnamed Ministry official
said in a statement on its website.
The official rejected claims that the plan threatened free speech,
violated international trade rules or was chosen without proper
tender processes.
"The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will further
solicit opinions from all sides, improve the plan, upgrade methods
and carry out related tasks," said the official.
But critics are likely to see the vague backdown, giving no fresh
date for a launch, as a way for the government to escape quickly
from the domestic and international controversy that erupted after
the plan was revealed earlier this month, giving manufacturers
little time to prepare.
"I would say we would welcome this," said Susan Stevenson, a
spokeswoman for the United States' embassy in Beijing.
Doomed to fail
Wang Junxiu, the Internet entrepreneur in Beijing, said the plan
appeared to be poorly thought out and doomed to fail.
"The leaders apparently decided the controversy and problems were
too much and decided to make a break," said Wang.
"If this had been a well-prepared plan with senior support, the
result would have been very different. But it wasn't."
China said the Green Dam software was designed to block
objectionable images, but the policy drew opposition from industry
and human rights groups and foreign governments who said it
distorted fair market competition and strengthened Beijing's
ability to censor political views.
On Monday, the European Chamber of Commerce in Beijing urged China
to reconsider the move, saying it poses significant questions in
relation to security, privacy, system reliability, the free flow of
information and user choice.
Last week, the United States also said the policy was draconian and
the European Union urged it to be scrapped.
But the most potent opposition may have been the many Chinese
internet activists, bloggers and lawyers who threatened protests,
lawsuits and other actions against the plan.
Susan Shirk, an expert on Chinese politics at the University of
California, San Diego, said that earlier open criticism of Green
Dam in the Chinese media suggested the plan did not have the
backing of senior government leaders.
"They do watch public opinion very carefully," Shirk said of
China's Communist Party leaders.
"There's a very dynamic interaction between the Party
authorities and the internet public."
Ai Weiwei, a Beijing artist and blogger who has mobilised
opposition to Green Dam, had planned a party on Wednesday to
denounce it, said the party would go ahead.
"Now we'll be celebrating a victory," he said.
"I expect there'll be even more drinking."
Hewlett-Packard Co, the world's No 1 PC maker, declined to comment
on the Chinese government's decision.
No 2 vendor Dell Inc said in a statement: "We respect the Chinese
government's stated goal of protecting children by filtering access
to pornography through the internet."
Dell said it will continue to advise customers about web-filtering software that has been tested and the company knows works well on its PCs.
