MEDIA REACTION: SECRETARY CLINTON'S SPEECH, HAITI

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 000192 DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EAP/CM, EAP/PA, EAP/PD, C HQ PACOM FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR (J007) SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL ECON SENV KGHG KMDR OPRC CH SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: SECRETARY CLINTON'S SPEECH, HAITI -------------- Editorial Quotes -------------- ¶1. SECRETARY CLINTON'S SPEECH a. "To be vigilant about the U.S.'s Internet hegemony" The official Communist Party international news publication Global Times (Huanqiu Shibao)(01/25)(pg 14): "Google's attack against the Chinese government, Secretary Clinton's speech on 'Internet freedom' and President Obama's support of Secretary Clinton, as well as United States' officials and businessmen, the State Department and the White House, have all launched a rare Internet attack against China and other non-western countries. The United States' motive, which has outraged many non-Western countries' people, is worth our vigilance. The United States is trying to use its advantages in manufacturing and disseminating information to promote its Internet hegemony, hoping that the whole world could be subservient in an information world centered around American ideology. In China, at major websites, it is easy to see remarks like 'This is kidnapping! A trickster acting as a savior in the name of promoting freedom'; 'U.S. Strategy: missile + network = take hegemony in the world!' In a poll by the Global Times website, 87% of netizens didn't believe the U.S. government really intends to promote China's Internet's progress. The United States is the largest Internet information monopolist. Most of the world's Internet's 'lifeblood', or root servers, are located in the U.S. Many countries and scholars have suggested that it is very dangerous to let the U.S. possess the 'live-or-die' power of the Internet and it should be handed over to international authorities. But the U.S. refuses to hand it over, which further increases the vigilance of the 1.3 billion Chinese people and non-Western countries whom are against the United States. It seems the U.S. government has forgotten what Bill Clinton once said in 1994: 'I won't tell a big country like China how to deal with its domestic issues, how to treat its people and what law it is supposed to constitute." b. "How large is the influence of the American Internet?" The official Communist Party international news publication Global Times (Huanqiu Shibao)(01/25)(pg 7): "From the chip to the operating system, from root server to domain name management, the United States dominates every part of the industry. The U.S., with its leading position in the information industry, and English as the primary Internet language, has become a truly sovereign nation of information. As statistics show, more than 2/3 of information flow on the Internet is from the U.S., far ahead of Japan and Germany. A report issued lately by the China Electronic Commerce Research Center revealed that American Internet capitalists have almost dominated the whole Chinese Internet industry. Experts said that this means that the U.S. shares the majority of Chinese Internet companies' profits. Shen Dingli, a professor at Fudan University, said that behind most Internet protocols and software is an American company. It is said that Google is undertaking an advertisement project named 'behavior targeting,' which will define users' needs according to their web history on the Internet. If this is true, is it you who will be using the Internet or will you be dominated by the Internet empire? 20 years ago, the U.S. was expanding its high-profile imperialism in the way of foreign exports, represented by McDonalds and Coca Cola. Today, it has changed to exporting thoughts, concepts and 'online soft power with noble virtues.' The U.S. has developed a new means of sanction other than military, economic and trade sanctions: information sanction. Within the short term, it is hard for China to change its disadvantageous position within the Internet." ¶C. "The internet is free and is also ruled by law" The Beijing-based newspaper sponsored by official intellectual publication Guangming Daily and Guangdong Provincial official publication Nanfang Daily The Beijing News (Xin Jing Bao)(01/23)(pg A02): "Chinese netizens are increasing at the rate of 200,000 more every day. Recently, China is the country with the most active Internet development, which is the best proof that the saying 'China restricts the development of Internet' is a falsehood. Taking the development of the Internet in China, as an example when promoting social progress and cracking down on corruption, it is the Chinese Internet's openness that has enabled several social incidents, like the Zhou Zhenglong case (the forgery photo of South China tiger), Deng Yujiao case (where a hotel waitress stabbed an official to death) and 'hurry & scurry case' (where a man died strangely in custody and the police said he died from an injury received when he played the game 'hurry and scurry' with his inmates),to be revealed to the public and therefore justice has been realized. Internet is free but has its boundaries; the law. U.S. Secretary Clinton also admits the fact that the Internet is a double-edged sword. One could use it to do good things or bad things. We should be cautious, some people are trying to politicize the internet issue in BEIJING 00000192 002 OF 003 order to blame other countries and intervene in their affairs. This is the exact same way that they used the 'human rights' issue. This approach is not pragmatic and we will for sure say 'no' to it." d. "Internet freedom" and "smart power" diplomacy The official Communist Party People's Daily (Renmin Ribao)(01/25)(pg 4): "Talking about 'freedom' is a really smart move if one wants to take the moral high ground. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's speech does contain some originality because who dares go against 'Internet freedom' and 'freedom'? This speech demonstrated the 'smart power' Secretary Clinton has advocated. The United States has many double standards regarding Internet freedom because it strictly controls its Internet while asking other countries to build a utopia of 'Internet freedom'. Reality has proved that this 'Internet freedom' is merely another diplomatic tactic and illusion of freedom. In the Internet era, the sovereignty of nations has expanded to the 'information frontier'. The United States, the birthplace of the Internet, who has the most advanced Internet application, has found the most favorable battlefield for itself. If the United States really wants to make 'an Internet without restrictions' part of its national brand, why does it still control terminal servers firmly in its own hands? For the United States, whether it is 'hard power', 'soft power' or even 'smart power', whether it is human rights, democracy or even 'Internet freedom', it is the United States' national interests that is behind all these frequently changing tactics." e. "Let's see the freedom of information in the United States" The official Communist Party People's Daily (Renmin Ribao) (01/24)(pg 3): "U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered a speech, in which she claimed to take advantage of the power of Internet and other high-tech tools to promote globally the American-style freedom of information, and help people around the world get free access to the Internet to enhance free flow of information. However, what is the so-called free flow of information? Are those without limitation necessarily the best and freest? Has the United States achieved this? In other words, can freedom go beyond the law? Let's think about it in transposition. Can Google use the so-called freedom as an excuse to defy the law in the United States? Can Chinese companies operating in the United States disobey U.S. laws? In the United States, can all pornographic information or speeches inciting acts of terrorism flow on the internet freely? The United States' answer is obvious: the Obama administration has been trying to layout the U.S. network security. The United States is the world's first country who introduced the concept of network warfare, established and developed a new military branch - the military network, and even set up a network of hacker forces. U.S. intelligence agencies also, through technological means, comprehensively monitor, track, delete and even alter information on the Internet that is not conducive to U.S. national interests. In such circumstances, the U.S. demands other countries to allow free flow of network information, which is really ridiculous. In the eyes of American politicians, only the information controlled by the United States is deemed as free information, only the expressions approved by the United States are deemed as free expressions and only the flow of information that meets the needs of U.S. national interests is deemed as free flow of information. Behind the United States' so-called freedom of information is its blatant political motive. The turbulent aftermath of Iran's election was a result of the internet war initiated by the United States. If the U.S. really wants to pursue free flow of information, why did Microsoft announce in a high profile last year to stop MSN services in five so-called "hostile" countries including Cuba? It is obvious that the United States imposes double standards on the freedom of information. They wave a big stick, in the name "freedom fighters," against those who are not in line with their political views and values, but distort facts or even confuse right and wrong when preserving their own interests. We have already seen many times the American game of playing double standards. Under the umbrella of freedom are only the privileges and interests of the American politicians." ¶2. HAITI "Both China and the U.S. manifest their soft power in relief efforts in Haiti" The official Communist Party international news publication Global Times (Huanqiu Shibao)(01/25)(pg 14): "Among rescue efforts in Haiti, the performance of China and the United States who can be said to be equal, have their own advantages and disadvantages and are worth our reflection. China's performance is praiseworthy. Meanwhile, the U.S. undoubtedly played an important role in those rescue relief efforts. In a sense, the international humanitarian disaster relief, is the stage for a nation to showcase its image and enhance its own power. In the process, China seized the opportunity to quickly respond, while its comprehensive capability in disaster BEIJING 00000192 003 OF 003 relief and providing supplies is still left far behind that of the U.S. Organizing the expertise and the humanitarian disaster relief troops, following its peacekeeping troops, may become the second military strength of China." HUNTSMAN