Wednesday, January 27, 2010

China to the US: WTF? Accuses US of Online Warfare in Iran

As we have discussed before, the Google internet controversy is a part of a larger geo-political strategy employed by the U.S. Government. The fact is that U.S. - China relations are beginning to deteriorate, and a covert economic WAR is certainly brewing under the surface. This is evidenced by the increasing vitriolic response from the Chinese, to Hillary Clinton's speech on internet freedom last week. According to a report in the Guardian:

The United States used "online warfare" to stir up unrest in Iran after last year's elections, the Chinese Communist party newspaper claimed today, hitting back at Hillary Clinton's speech last week about internet freedom.
An editorial in the People's Daily accused the US of launching a "hacker brigade" and said it had used social media such as Twitter to spread rumours and create trouble.
"Behind what America calls free speech is naked political scheming. How did the unrest after the Iranian election come about?" said the editorial, signed by Wang Xiaoyang. "It was because online warfare launched by America, via YouTube video and Twitter microblogging, spread rumours, created splits, stirred up and sowed discord between the followers of conservative reformist factions."
Yes, all these accusations are true and Google the owner of YouTube, is most certainly in the know. Recall that during the Iranian protests last year, the state department requested that Twitter, (which was being used by anti-Iranian government protesters) not close down for scheduled maintenance. In addition, Henry Kissinger went on TV and nearly admitted that the U.S. is trying to overthrow the Iranian government by "working for regime change from the outside" (read staged domestic revolt). It is no wonder therefore that:

Several social media sites, including YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, have been blocked in China in the last year. The editorial asked rhetorically whether obscenity or activities promoting terrorism would be allowed on the net in the US. "We're afraid that in the eyes of American politicians, only information controlled by America is free information, only news acknowledged by America is free news, only speech approved by America is free speech, and only information flow that suits American interests is free information flow," it added.
Clinton's direct challenge to China, in a speech that had echoes of the cold war with its references to the Berlin wall and an "information curtain", led Beijing to warn that US criticism could damage bilateral relations. Clinton called on China to hold a full and open investigation into the December attack on Google.
US diplomats sought to reach out to the Chinese public by briefing bloggers in China on Friday. They held a similar meeting during Barack Obama's visit in November.

No comments: