October 25, 2002

This week's visit by Chinese President Jiang Zemin is an opportunity to closely examine China's progress toward becoming a trustworthy member of the international community. Contrary to the drumbeat sounded in recent years by some advocates of engagement, China's willingness to engage in the world economy has not translated into evolution toward democracy, nor an improvement in religious, human, or worker rights.

Indeed, the government of China remains in many respects the enemy of its own people, imprisoning dissidents and clamping down on nearly all forms of free expression. If the tide of democratic change ever sweeps over China, it will ultimately need to come from within.

There is a role for the United States to play in this fight by promoting the exchange of ideas and by disseminating accurate information. Our efforts to do so behind the Iron Curtain were instrumental in empowering citizens living under Soviet Communist rule. As Polish Solidarity leader Lech Walesa wrote, "Without Western broadcasting, totalitarian regimes would have survived much longer. . . . From these broadcasting stations we gleaned our lessons of independent thinking and solidarity action."

Today, the Internet is perhaps the most powerful pro-democracy broadcasting tool. But, just as Communist governments during the Cold War sought to keep uncensored news from their people by jamming Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, the government of China today retains strict control over the information Chinese citizens can access on the Internet. During the past two years, Beijing has passed sweeping regulations that prohibit unauthorized news and commentary on Internet sites, and officials arrest and imprison those who violate these laws. Authorities in China routinely block websites they believe a danger to their hold on power, including those of dissident groups and foreign news organizations, like the Washington Post, the New York Times, the BBC, and the Voice of America.

The bipartisan U.S.-China Security Review Commission recently noted that China has attempted to pressure American firms, including Yahoo!, to assist in its censorship efforts. And it has insisted that providers including America Online leave open the possibility of turning over names, e-mail addresses, or records of political dissidents if the government of China demands them.

The government of China punishes severely those who attempt to circumvent Internet restrictions. For example, Huang Qi, the operator of an Internet site that posted information about missing persons, including students who disappeared in the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, was tried secretly and found guilty of "subverting state power." According to the State Department, Huang was bound hand and foot and beaten by police while they tried to force him to confess. Tragically, this is but one of many examples.

There is a reason for Beijing's brutality. Unfettered access to the Internet would play an integral role in the opening of Chinese society, just as radio broadcasting did in the former Soviet Union. Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, Amnesty International, and the National Endowment for Democracy -- just to name a few -- are all increasingly relying upon the Internet to overcome China's steep obstacles to the spread of news, democratic values, and human rights.

The U.S. private sector is developing a number of technologies to combat Internet blocking. Unfortunately, the U.S. government has contributed few resources to assist these efforts and to put the new technologies to use. For example, Voice of America and Radio Free Asia have budgeted only $1 million for technology to counter Chinese government Internet jamming -- and that funding has now expired.

China is not alone. Governments in Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Cuba, and many other nations fear the Internet so much that they also attempt to block their citizens from accessing it. North Korea fears it so much that it has banned the Internet, and only has a domestic "Intranet" that can be accessed by the political elite. This denial of the most basic human freedom to think, learn, and exchange ideas and information must not be tolerated.

That is why we have introduced bipartisan legislation, along with Senator Ron Wyden (D., Ore.), to establish an Office of Global Internet Freedom within the U.S. government that will combat state-sponsored Internet jamming and persecution of Internet users. The office will be responsible for the development and deployment of anti-jamming technologies -- using private-sector expertise where available, but also hastening the invention of state-of-the-art tools that will keep free individuals one step ahead of the political censors.

This week, President Bush has an opportunity to exercise American leadership by making clear to Jiang Zemin that the United States will not overlook the repression of the Chinese people simply for the sake of gaining ostensible support for other U.S. objectives. Instead, we should commit to using every means available -- not least of all the Internet -- to help Chinese citizens enjoy the unfettered freedom of the mind that will one day permit them to choose their own destiny. As President Harry Truman once said, "This is a struggle, above all, for the minds of men."

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