GREAT FIREWALL OF CHINA � BEIJING BANS CYBERCAFES
Apologies, but this reporter can�t help but editorialize on this doozie of a story, a truly brilliant display of thinly disguised political censorship and spectacularly specious reasoning masquerading as a public safety initiative. The mayor of Beijing, capital of the People�s Republic of China, has ordered the immediate closure of all of the city�s legitimately operating internet parlors following a fire in one of the city�s cybercafes that left at least 24 people, mostly university students, dead early on the morning of Sunday, June 16. Chinese leaders have been openly voicing displeasure with such cafes since their emergence within the PRC during the past few years. By deeming them a fire hazard, Mayor Liu Qi has pulled a coup on internet access for many Beijing websurfers, most of whom don�t own their own computers, and who until today enjoyed the anonymity offered by cybercafes. The death of the caf�s patrons is surely a tragedy, but one obviously due to the specific nature of the building and circumstances surrounding the fire. The idea that cybercafes are somehow more of a fire hazard than the multitude of other types of businesses Beijing contains, many of which must surely also suffer occasional fires without their entire profession being shut down, is asinine. Nonetheless, �From now on, Beijing will not encourage the development of internet bars,� says Liu Qi.
current science news posted by ted at 6/17/2002 08:11:00 PM
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