Foreign and Military Affairs

China strongly opposes US charges on internet freedom

By Xie Jingwei and Zhao Chunzhe (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-01-22 18:06

The United States' accusation on China's internet policy contradicts the truth and China firmly opposes such an allegation that damages the bilateral ties, said the spokesman of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu made the remarks on Friday when commenting on US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's speech on internet freedom. The speech, made on Thursday, called for China and some other governments to lift their restrictions on citizens' use of the Internet.

Ma said the speech indicated China restricts internet freedom. "It is a far cry from the truth," he said.

China's Constitution protects citizen's freedom of speech and it is the country's long-term policy to promote the internet development, Ma noted.

He said China follows the international practice of administering the web by the law, which forbids hacking and any behaviors that violate personal privacy. China is one of the countries that is most attacked by the hackers. The Chinese government advocates international cooperation on battling hacking and protecting people's privacy.

China urges the US to respect the truth and stop its groundless charges on China's internet freedom. China wants to strengthen the communication and cooperation with the US, respect each other's core interest and major concerns to maintain a healthy development of Sino-US relations in the new phase, which are the consensus reached by the leaders of China and the US.

China's web is open and the country saw vigorous development of internet, said Ma. By the end of last year, China's population of web users soared to 380 million. There are more than 3.68 million websites and 180 million blogs in China.