We'll push on with Green Dam, vows MIIT

Robert Clark | July 02, 2009

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China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has vowed to push on with its web filtering plan, despite putting it indefinitely on-hold.

It was only “a matter of time” before the plan to install Green Dam on all PCs sold went into took effect, an unnamed MIIT official told the English language China Daily.

“The government will definitely carry on the directive on Green Dam. It's just a matter of time,” he said.

The MIIT backed down on the scheme on Tuesday, just hours before it was due to come into effect, saying PC manufacturers needed more time to prepare.

But the official said “there is no deadline” for restarting the scheme, which was opposed by foreign PC vendors and the US government and sparked angry reaction from Chinese internet users.

The American Chamber of Commerce in China and the US-based Computer and Communications Industry Association welcomed the climbdown, scmp.com reported.

Chinese internet activists, lawyers and others celebrated the victory over Green Dam with a party in Beijing’s art district in its northeastern suburbs.

In an editorial, the Financial Times said a government-sponsored filter was “a chilling tool” of control. Officials should “regard this episode as an administrative glitch rather than a loss of face and take the opportunity to rethink its strategy.”

Robert Clark

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