ONI Country Profi le
273
On March 10, 2008, the anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan Uprising, protests erupted
in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, calling for improved human rights conditions, religious
freedom, and, in some cases, political independence.
4 Shortly thereafter, with the
international community ’ s eyes on China during the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics,
unprecedented protests broke out among Tibetan communities throughout China and
around the world.
5 The Chinese government responded by initiating violent crackdowns in the Tibet Autonomous Region, clamping down on domestic and foreign
media, and systematically blocking online content pertaining to the incident.
6
As the Olympics drew nearer, China faced increasing international pressure to
lessen censorship and honor its commitment to allow foreign media to report freely
during the games. The offi cial policy on foreign media restrictions during the Olympics, issued in 2006, considerably loosened control over foreign journalists, allowing
them to travel and conduct interviews throughout China without registration or the
offi cial consent of local authorities.
7 However, while these new regulations represented
an unprecedented level of freedom for foreign journalists working in China, the government continued to exercise strict control over domestic media, tightly limiting the
availability of unbiased Chinese-language news.
8 Furthermore, though the PRC government had initially agreed to provide unfi ltered Internet access to journalists during
the Olympics, this promise was signifi cantly compromised and redefi ned as pertaining
only to “ games-related ” Web sites.
9 Numerous political and human-rights-focused Web
sites remained blocked throughout the games. Following the Olympics, the new regulations on foreign media reporting in China remained temporarily in place. However,
events of the coming year led to a series of tightened restrictions and intensifi ed
controls.
The year 2009 was a critical one in the trajectory of China ’ s Internet restrictions
and censorship. In April 2009 the State Council Information Offi ce issued its fi rst
“ National Human Rights Action Plan of China, ” which, in addition to numerous other
commitments, promised that “ the state will take effective measures to develop the
press and publications industry and ensure that all channels are unblocked to guarantee citizens ’ right to be heard. ”
10 However, throughout the year China continued
to tighten censorship and increase control over public media and discussion, showing
little potential for progress toward this goal. In preparation for numerous important
milestones, including the 60th anniversary of the PRC ’ s founding, the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising and retreat of the Dalai Lama to India (and one year since
the 2008 protests in Tibet organized on the same date), the 20th anniversary of the
Tiananmen Massacre, and the tenth anniversary of the Falun Gong spiritual movement being outlawed, the ruling party began the year carefully poised to tighten
restrictions surrounding these sensitive dates.
11
In July 2009, violent clashes broke out in Urumqi, the capital of the western province of Xinjiang. The protests, which appeared to have started peacefully, began as a
273
On March 10, 2008, the anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan Uprising, protests erupted
in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, calling for improved human rights conditions, religious
freedom, and, in some cases, political independence.
4 Shortly thereafter, with the
international community ’ s eyes on China during the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics,
unprecedented protests broke out among Tibetan communities throughout China and
around the world.
5 The Chinese government responded by initiating violent crackdowns in the Tibet Autonomous Region, clamping down on domestic and foreign
media, and systematically blocking online content pertaining to the incident.
6
As the Olympics drew nearer, China faced increasing international pressure to
lessen censorship and honor its commitment to allow foreign media to report freely
during the games. The offi cial policy on foreign media restrictions during the Olympics, issued in 2006, considerably loosened control over foreign journalists, allowing
them to travel and conduct interviews throughout China without registration or the
offi cial consent of local authorities.
7 However, while these new regulations represented
an unprecedented level of freedom for foreign journalists working in China, the government continued to exercise strict control over domestic media, tightly limiting the
availability of unbiased Chinese-language news.
8 Furthermore, though the PRC government had initially agreed to provide unfi ltered Internet access to journalists during
the Olympics, this promise was signifi cantly compromised and redefi ned as pertaining
only to “ games-related ” Web sites.
9 Numerous political and human-rights-focused Web
sites remained blocked throughout the games. Following the Olympics, the new regulations on foreign media reporting in China remained temporarily in place. However,
events of the coming year led to a series of tightened restrictions and intensifi ed
controls.
The year 2009 was a critical one in the trajectory of China ’ s Internet restrictions
and censorship. In April 2009 the State Council Information Offi ce issued its fi rst
“ National Human Rights Action Plan of China, ” which, in addition to numerous other
commitments, promised that “ the state will take effective measures to develop the
press and publications industry and ensure that all channels are unblocked to guarantee citizens ’ right to be heard. ”
10 However, throughout the year China continued
to tighten censorship and increase control over public media and discussion, showing
little potential for progress toward this goal. In preparation for numerous important
milestones, including the 60th anniversary of the PRC ’ s founding, the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising and retreat of the Dalai Lama to India (and one year since
the 2008 protests in Tibet organized on the same date), the 20th anniversary of the
Tiananmen Massacre, and the tenth anniversary of the Falun Gong spiritual movement being outlawed, the ruling party began the year carefully poised to tighten
restrictions surrounding these sensitive dates.
11
In July 2009, violent clashes broke out in Urumqi, the capital of the western province of Xinjiang. The protests, which appeared to have started peacefully, began as a