Should the American Lie Go On?

On April 8, the U.S. State Department released the 2010 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices and again made distorted accusations of human rights situations in many countries and regions, including China.

Looking back to reports on human rights in recent years, there was nothing but accusations, distortions and smears of other countries. With the promulgation of the Internet in China, the U.S. became interested in this emerging situation, constantly attacking policies on Internet regulation in China.

On the one hand, the U.S. criticized the lack of Internet freedom in China; on the other hand, it heightened its own control of the Internet. For example, the founder of WikiLeaks (the website that revealed the U.S. government’s privacy and shady dealings) was chased by officials around the world; not only was the founder wanted, the American government used every possible means to coerce American companies into banning access to WikiLeaks. In spite of this, the U.S. also restricted Internet freedom on a legislative level: On June 24, 2010, the U.S. Senate Committee on National Security and Government Affairs passed an amendment to the Homeland Security Act of 2002, protecting the Internet as a national asset. The amendment stipulated that the federal government has absolute power to shut down the Internet under emergency situations, again widening the power of the federal government. The article on the U.S. foreign policy network also admits that the attitude of the U.S. government toward the Internet is still full of problems and contradictions.

Reviewing the development of China’s Internet is enough to make the American lie collapse on its own. Since the reform and opening up of China, the country’s opinion sphere has been continuously expanding; while the topics discussed continue to increase, various views in public opinion fields are contending. The development of the Internet further expanded the public opinion capacity in China by spreading opinions of every viewpoint more efficiently. There are millions of forums and more than 200 million blogs in China now. The number of blog posts every day has reached 4 million, and new posts in various forums are uncountable. The Internet has become an important means for Chinese citizens to express their opinions, participate in policy making and monitor the government. On the Internet, Chinese people enjoy freedom of expression. Facing this truth, U.S. accusations toward the lack of freedom on China’s Internet is completely distorted.

Historically, the United States often initiated wars or interfered with other countries’ internal affairs in the name of freedom. But America’s disguise of freedom has brought fragmented states and restless societies to people in those countries.