China Wants Countries To Make Their Own Internet Rules

Wuzhen, a city in the country famed for its “Great Firewall of China”, has opened its doors for the second World Internet Conference.

“Cyberspace should not be a battlefield for countries to wrestle with one another”, the Chinese president said.

Observers said the proposals, while vaguely worded, were a sign that China is seeking to use its growing economic influence to fight back against what it sees as Western domination of the internet. “We should respect internet users’ rights to exchange ideas and express their mindsand we should also build good order in cyberspace in accordance with [the] law as it will help protect the legitimate rights and interests of all internet users”.

On Monday, prominent human-rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang went on trial for writing seven social-media posts criticizing Chinese policies and government officials.

While China has long censored and regulated its domestic Internet, in recent years it has advanced a concept of “cyber sovereignty” that seeks in part to upend the current system of online governance. Critics say it’s a way for China to maintain its tight control.

Xi also stressed that no country should support online activities that could undermine the national security of other countries.

Hacking has been a sore spot in US-China relations.

“The impact of China’s “Internet sovereignty” is real and devastating”, Roseann Rife, Amnesty International’s East Asia research director, said in a statement.

“Indeed, we do not welcome those that make money off China, occupy China’s market, even as they slander China’s people”, Lu Wei, the head of the Cyberspace Administration of China, said last week.

While Facebook and Twitter, among others, are blocked in China, that was not the case in Wuzhen where attendees enjoyed unfettered access to websites.

Prime ministers Dmitry Medvedev of Russian Federation and Karim Massimov of Kazakhstan, whose nations are members of the regional Shanghai Co-operation Organisation, also were there.

Mr. Xi told delegates that a united and collaborative approach amongst countries is key to holding back “the abuse of information technologies” and preventing incidents of surreptitious surveillance via the web.

“Under Xi Jinping there has been a very aggressive assault on internet freedom which includes the imprisonment and detention of outspoken [online] opinion leaders”. Last year’s meeting was greeted with derision by activists who questioned China’s motives and this year’s has been no better received.

China already counts 670 million web users and 4.13 million web sites, and Xi promised to expand Internet coverage to every administrative village in the country by 2020.

Senior executives at the tech companies said on Thursday that the Internet of Things – a network of physical objects or “things” embedded with electronics, software, sensors and network connectivity – will further change lives in China.

“We should use moral teachings in guiding the use of the Internet”, he added, adding that China’s online presence should strive for a more positive and “uplifting” image.