Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07BEIJING1884
2007-03-20 10:27:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Beijing
Cable title:  

INTERNET ADDICTION SCARE IN CHINA REVEALS DEEPER

Tags:  PGOV PHUM KCUL SOCI CH 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO0029
OO RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #1884/01 0791027
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 201027Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5956
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 001884 

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/20/2032
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KCUL SOCI CH
SUBJECT: INTERNET ADDICTION SCARE IN CHINA REVEALS DEEPER
OFFICIAL CONCERNS

REF: A. BEIJING 1238


B. 06 BEIJING 2682

Classified By: Political Section Internal Unit Chief Susan A. Thornton.
Reasons 1.4 (b/d).

Summary
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 001884

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SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/20/2032
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KCUL SOCI CH
SUBJECT: INTERNET ADDICTION SCARE IN CHINA REVEALS DEEPER
OFFICIAL CONCERNS

REF: A. BEIJING 1238


B. 06 BEIJING 2682

Classified By: Political Section Internal Unit Chief Susan A. Thornton.
Reasons 1.4 (b/d).

Summary
--------------


1. (C) The perils of "Internet addiction" have been a
hot human interest story in Mainland media in recent
weeks, as newspapers and (of course) Internet news
sites run a steady diet of cautionary tales about
youths losing their way thanks to too much time
online. The Ministry of Culture has announced that no
new Internet cafes will be allowed to open for the
remainder of 2007. Despite the public health risk
theme the "addiction" coverage presents, media and
academic contacts maintain that the problem is
exaggerated -- and the Government likes it that way.
While online games, not progressive political blogs,
are seen as most guilty of seducing young people, any
scare that steers kids clear of a medium many
officials see as a gateway to a trove of subversive
material that threatens Party authority is a bonus.
While the Propaganda Department has issued no specific
coverage guidelines, contacts said the Ministries of
Education and Culture are working in tandem to get the
story out on the hazards of the Internet. Cybercafe
managers, however, brushed aside the concerns,
commenting that being hooked on the web is "no worse
than watching too much television." End Summary.


They've Got a Habit
--------------


2. (C) The Chinese press has coined a catchy new term
to describe people who can not tear themselves away
from the world wide web that translates roughly as
"netaholics." The official China Youth Internet
Association released a report in 2006 pegging the
number of young Internet users (defined as age 13-35)
addicted to the web at more than 13 percent. In the
past month, the press has run dozens of articles
recounting scary tales of young people veering off the
rails thanks to being hooked on the Internet. One
piece, on The Beijing Times website, tells of 17-year-
old Little Ying, who reportedly ran away from home and
spent 20 days eating and sleeping in an Internet cafe.

Another article on the Beijing Daily's website, under
the headline "Internet Addicted Youth Are Most Likely
to Oppose Society," quotes a series of academics who
charge that too much time online promotes deviant
behavior and harms performance at school. Online and
print media reported that National People's Congress
representatives discussed the issue during its annual
legislative confab that ended March 16. Finally,
under its health section, the People's Daily Online
ran an editorial March 13 arguing that the key to
rehabilitating "Internet addicts" is first sensitizing
parents to the problem.


3. (C) Despite the public health gloss the media is
giving the fight against "Internet addiction," the
propaganda push serves the purposes of a Government
that remains very skeptical of the Internet, said Li
Qiang (protect),Dean of the School of Sociology at
Tsinghua University. The vast majority of Chinese

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netizens use the Internet for entertainment and
business. Violent online games, not progressive
political blogs, are seen as most guilty of hooking
young people and prompting them to behave badly. But
any scare that steers kids clear of a medium many
officials see as a gateway to a trove of subversive
material that threatens Party authority is a bonus, Li
reasoned. (Note: Official statistics released in
January indicate that the number of Chinese netizens
rose 23.4 percent in 2006 to 137 million, although the
real figure is probably higher. In addition, some 20
million individuals have launched personal web logs
online, according to the official China Internet
Network Information Center. End note.)

Log On, Tune In, Don't Drop Out
--------------


4. (C) Li contended that China's top leadership
realizes that the Internet is the future in terms of
how people get information about trends and events.
Against this backdrop, there are currently two Chinas,

BEIJING 00001884 002 OF 003


one in which people rely on newspapers for their news
and one whose citizens go first to the Internet. The
latter group is growing quickly, and the Government is
worried about young people having too much exposure to
information that might cause them to question the
Party's authority -- be it on media issues, history or
current events. Blogs, discussion forums and other
sites offer an array of material not available in
print media, and some of it is politically sensitive.
Although the Government wants people to use the
Internet for education and business activity,
officials fret that people might use their
unprecedented power to express themselves in a way
that might harm social stability, such as by
stimulating a movement or organizing a protest. The
anti-Japan protests of 2005 were a wake-up call in
this regard, Li said.


5. (C) The ban on new Internet cafes is a symbolic
move that will not diminish young people's desire to
surf the web or play games, said Ding Xueliang
(protect),Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment
for International Peace's fledgling Beijing office
(currently under the umbrella of the China Reform
Forum). In addition, it will have a minimal effect on
their ability to log on, especially as more and more
families are able to afford personal computers. But
the Central Government directive barring new cafes
will have a negative trickle down effect through the
system, Ding predicted, observing that especially when
it comes to rules that relate to stability or media
controls, provincial and local governments will err on
the side of getting tough. It could also translate
into closures of existing cafes in some areas.
Leaders at all levels want to impress superiors in the
run-up to the 17th Party Congress and they know being
lax on Internet and media issues is no way to score
points, Ding related.

Scaring Parents
--------------


6. (C) Propaganda authorities have handed down no
specific guidelines on coverage of "Internet
addiction" issues or the ban on new cybercafes, said
Zhou Qing'an, an Internet-savvy professor at the
Tsinghua University School of Journalism and

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Communications. The Government has deployed
considerable technical and personnel resources in its
effort to contain the Internet. The State Council
Information Office has issued rule after rule, Zhou
observed, but enforcement is lax and the firewall
remains porous. While there is no concerted effort by
the Propaganda Department or other information
agencies to launch a comprehensive campaign against
"Internet addiction," Zhou, who has contacts in the
media regulatory world, said officials told him the
Ministries of Education and Culture are working in
tandem to get the story out. He gave no further
details, but added that as two of the more than 20
ministries charged with what the Government calls
"managing" the Internet, they view the effort as
fulfilling their role in shoring up defenses against
harmful content.


7. (C) Demographics play a role in the Government's
approach, Zhou related, remarking that in the view of
Propaganda guardians, "you can not change the thinking
of someone over 30, but you can still influence those
under 30." Sociologist Li separately made a similar
point, commenting that given the Government's failure
so far to ensure that only content it deems
appropriate makes it through the filters, one
objective of the "Internet addiction" thrust is to
enlist parents in the fight -- by scaring them into
monitoring their children more closely. Referring to
China's test-heavy system of educational advancement,
Li emphasized that "if you want to motivate Chinese
parents against the Internet, just tell them it is
affecting their children's studies."

"It's No Worse Than TV"
--------------


8. (C) The media has portrayed Internet cafes as
bastions of crime and seediness. In fact, Beijing's
cybersalons do tend to be tucked in smoky basements
next to billiards parlors or video game arcades. The
dreary underground corridor leading to one typical
establishment in Beijing's bustling Tuanjiehu
neighborhood is lined with posters cautioning patrons

BEIJING 00001884 003 OF 003


about the dangers of gambling and unsafe sex. (Note:
Beijing has instituted a rule prohibiting minors under
18 from entering Internet cafes. End note.)
Nonetheless, managers at Internet cafes brushed aside
the recent publicity onslaught and the restriction on
new openings. Yu Tiancheng, who manages a basement
Internet cafe, said he has had no problem with crime
during the year he has worked there, although he
complained that patrons regularly flout the no smoking
rule. Yu said his cafe is always busy and is
particularly packed after schools and offices let out
in the evening. He downplayed the negative effects of
spending a lot of time online. "It is no worse than
watching too much television," he remarked.
RANDT