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China Blocks Popular Web Sites Before Tiananmen Anniversary

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Posted on Jun 2, 2009
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chandrakantha.com

The famous image of a man halting advancing Chinese army tanks on June 5, 1989.

Two days before the 20th anniversary of the brutal military crackdown on student protesters in Tiananmen Square, the Chinese government has blocked popular Web sites aimed at the young, including Twitter, Flickr and Hotmail. It also has blocked message boards on some 6,000 sites associated with colleges and universities. 

The Guardian:

Chinese censors blocked access to Twitter and other popular online services today, two days before the 20th anniversary of the crackdown on democracy protests in Tiananmen Square.

The move came amid increasing pressure on dissidents, in a reflection of the authorities’ anxiety ahead of the sensitive date. Hundreds died as the army forced its way through Beijing to clear away demonstrators from the capital’s political heart in June 1989, but the issue is taboo on the mainland.

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PatrickHenry's avatar

By PatrickHenry, June 8, 2009 at 4:34 pm Link to this comment

Truthdig blocks popular websites like:

www dot BDSmovement dot net

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By Antinazionista, June 4, 2009 at 8:20 am Link to this comment

@Folktruther true that! couldn’t have put it better myself, and I live in China. The contrast in State response the Szechuan earthquake and Katrina said it all. while the US sent the army in to kill looters (people trying to find food), the Chinese sent the army in to bring people food and rescue them - to name but one glaring difference.
The used to ban the BBC news website here, I thought that was the best thing they ever did, unfortunately post-olympics we too are now subject to that insidious propaganda.

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By Chip, June 4, 2009 at 5:28 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

The day we remember, unarmed citizens been murdered and stripped off every single basic right to comment. Citizens of the world, I remember watching on cnn an American man holding his gun, and announcing “Over my dead body”, against stripping of gun rights in America. This, I only understand the meaning lie within the deep thoughs of this great citizen. May we cherish all liberties fought by our fore-fathers, to hold liberty and justice in our hands. How on earth can we prevent a moral hazard created by men we entrust our lifes with? Born free, nothing can deter me, my liberty and my fears. The economic disaster today only reflexs the mistakes of people we entrust our lifes with, and by that, stripped of our homes and lay naked for vultures to feast on our every single right. Every single down fall of great dynasties and every suffering is just because we give up our rights in exchange for central control. Why do our forefathers oppose on the “Central Bank”?

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By Folktruther, June 3, 2009 at 9:24 am Link to this comment

China is a repressive class-bassed powerstate that restricts and represses the truth and democratic discussion and representation of the population.  What is not stated in the US media is that it serves the interests of the Chinese population much better than the American powerstate serves the American population.

That is why polls have indicated that 90% of the Chinese approve of governement policies while 80% of Americans think the US is headed in the wrong direction.

Granted that neither powerstate is sufficiently democratic, China is some ways is MORE democratic than the US.  last year an estimated 75 thousand demonstrations occurred to right local and provincial wrongs, and economists and ther professionals routine criticize the Chinese government.

The US has two corrupt parties financed by the ruling class and a media that routinely deludes and de-mobilizies the population, also owned by the US ruling class and serving its interests.  The US is increasingly a demobalizing police state getting increasingly repressive.  China has a MORE effective party capitalist economy that is bringing hundreds of millions of people to the cities.  It currently has created over a 170 cities of over a million persons.  The US has 9.

The incessant indoctrination that the seige socialism of the communist regimes is the worst thing that could happen to people is bourgeois gibberish.  It is true, however, that it is the worst thing that could happen to the ruling class.

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blogdog's avatar

By blogdog, June 3, 2009 at 1:13 am Link to this comment

Wonder…are their eyes everywhere ? will they block this one ?
http://www.artixpdx.com/#JUN

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