Can't control the news


Official China gets stymied again
There are times I really really LIKE being right. This is one of them.

The internet and other technologies such as cellphones are making it increasingly difficult for China's authorities to control negative news, according to a top government official.

"It has been repeatedly proved that information blocking is like walking into a dead end," the state-run China Daily newspaper quoted Wang Guoqing, a vice minister with the State Council Information Office, as saying.

Wang says local governments need to be more transparent, describing some as being "too naïve" in thinking they can simply hide damaging information.

Wang reportedly revealed that some local government representatives used to believe that 90% of bad news could be concealed, and only 10% would be unluckily exposed by the media. He cited the recent case of a slavery scandal that emerged in China's Shanxi and Henan provinces as proving that bad news needs to be managed, rather than covered up.

Transparent information and the internet are the planet's last, best hope for freedom. I've said it before, and I keep getting proven right.

The really amazing thing is that the benefits to individuals aren't limited to those who live under repressive regimes. It works great for democratic nations too.

Freedom is too big to control, so we had better just let it ring.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Mon - July 16, 2007 at 04:28 PM  Tag


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