Xi Jinping encourages freedom of ideas at World Internet Conference

The Second World Internet Conference (WIC) closed on Friday after about 2,000 domestic and foreign participants discussed internet governance and cyberspace cooperation.

“No country should pursue cyber hegemony or interfere in other country’s internal affairs”, he added. “The future of cyberspace should be in the hands of all countries”, he said. “On the other, we need to create a fine cyberspace order following relevant laws”.

After the out of the US National Security Agency’s PRISM program, more countries have woken up to the fact that “absolute Internet freedom” touted by the US will only end up as “absolute security” in Washington and “absolute insecurity” for the rest.

An October report by the American pro-democracy think tank Freedom House found that China has the most restrictive Internet policies of 65 countries studied, ranking below Iran and Syria.

“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.

“If we really censor the Internet, how come our Internet user population and their reliance on the Internet keep growing?”

US companies and government officials have long complained to cyber-attacks originating out of China, an accusation officials in Beijing have denied, saying they too have been the targets of hacking. Every day they post 30 billion messages.

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

The President said with the digital economy now a critically important and growing part of the global economy, internet connectivity had an intrinsic and positive correlation with economic growth and higher living standards.

At a key meeting earlier this year, the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) presented the concept of innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development.

He also expressed enthusiasm about Chinese efforts in cyber development and big data strategies as it prepares to launch an “Internet Plus” action plan over the next half a decade amid its promotion of the Internet’s integration with economic and social progress.

Mr. Xi’s remarks were delivered at an event attended by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Chairman Jack Ma, as well as executives from Google’s newly established parent company, Alphabet, and representatives from tech companies including Apple, Microsoft and IBM, along with Prime Ministers Dmitry Medvedev of Russian Federation and Karim Massimov of Kazakhstan.

“Tech companies must not turn a blind eye to such repression or give credence to any notion of Internet sovereignty that is an attack on the rights to freedom of expression or privacy”, said Amnesty’s Rife.