‘We are reaching out to the government to understand this decision and find a
way to move forward,’ Kutz said.
‘Microsoft is committed to helping advance the free flow of information, and is
committed to encouraging transparency, due process and rule of law when it comes
to Internet governance,’ he added.
Microsoft did not say when China began blocking the sites, but Reporters Without
Borders (RSF) said it had been notified by Chinese Web users that access to the
websites began being blocked inside China on Tuesday.
‘Reporters Without Borders is outraged by the blockage of a dozen websites such
as Twitter, YouTube, Bing, Flickr, Opera, Live, Wordpress and Blogger in China,’
the media rights group said in a statement.
‘The Chinese government stops at nothing to silence what happened 20 years ago
in Tiananmen Square,’ it said. ‘By blocking access to a dozen websites used
daily by millions of Chinese citizens, the authorities have opted for censorship
at any price rather than accept a debate about this event.’
Asked to comment on the Chinese moves, a US State Department spokesman said
there would be a more expansive US response on Wednesday, but underscored that
US policy ‘supports freedom of expression.’
With regard to any activities that the Chinese government is undertaking in
connection with the anniversary... we will have more to say (Wednesday) through
a statement on the anniversary,’ spokesman Robert Wood told reporters.
‘The issue of human rights is a very important element of our relationship with
China,’ he added.
There was no immediate comment from Yahoo!, which owns photo-sharing site Flickr,
or Twitter to emails from AFP asking about the reported blocking of their
websites by China.
Google-owned YouTube has been blocked inside China since March.
Rights group Freedom House, which is funded by the US government and private
groups, condemned the Chinese government’s blocking of the websites.
‘China’s decision to block these sites today represents the latest salvo in a
relentless campaign to erase the past,’ executive director Jennifer Windsor said
in a statement.
‘China is blocking sites like Twitter and Flickr because they provide a means
for people to circumvent government control and mobilize dissent.’
China’s foreign correspondents’ association on Tuesday condemned moves by
authorities in Beijing to block reporting in the run-up to the anniversary of
the Tiananmen Square crackdown.
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China (FCCC) said it had received at least
three reports of authorities blocking reporting at Tiananmen Square and
intimidating journalists or their sources.
The country’s communist leadership sent soldiers to forcibly clear the square
and surrounding areas on the night of June 3-4, 1989, ending seven weeks of
protests calling for political reforms.
Hundreds, possibly thousands, were killed in the crackdown, which remains a
taboo subject in China. |
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