The Chinese Internet: No happiness

By Dan Blacharski

I've lived and traveled all over Asia, and love it -- there's nothing quite like strolling by the street vendors peddling fried beetles and chicken heads. In countries like Thailand, where there is relatively more freedom than some other Asian countries, I marveled at the stark contrast of seeing a vendor in her big straw hat selling live fish right outside of a flourishing and modern Internet café.

Over the weekend, Reporters Without Borders reported that Chinese Internet users could no longer connect to the Chinese or English versions of Wikipedia. There's been some back and forth in China around Wikipedia (as well as several other online sites), with China re-opening the English Wikipedia on October 10, and the Chinese version in the middle of November. Has there been a change of heart again by the powers that be? It would seem so, and today, if a Chinese citizen wants to know about the history of American Thanksgiving, what was the longest novel in English ever published, or to read about British game show host Richard Dawson or some other such trivia, they'll have to go elsewhere.

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