Petition for a Free and Open Internet in China

This petition is organized by the Secret China Forum. The signatures will be delivered to the World Trade Organization and other related institutions.

Our Declaration-To live for freedom and dignity
    We ardently love freedom.
    Do not associate us with “politics”, as we only want the freedom and dignity that should be available to all of mankind. Do not speak of “laws”, as the law is not a toy for a totalitarian regime. Only if its citizens can live freely and with dignity will a country be free, just, generous, and joyous.

Our Appeal-Small Efforts will Eventually Change the World
    The Chinese government declares that foreign companies doing business in China must abide by the laws of China. However, the censorship of China’s Internet complies not with Chinese law, but with administrative orders from the regime. The major differences between Internet censorship in China and elsewhere are that in China, the rules are ambiguous and that there are no means of judicial rectification.
    Thus the following questions arise:
    1. Does Google’s self-censorship of pornography, violence and gambling websites meet the requirements of Chinese law?
    2. How did the Chinese government communicate the requirements of self-censorship to Google? Which governmental department did this originate from? What was the legal basis for this? Is there a correction mechanism?
    3. What type of content did the Chinese government require Google to self-censor? Besides pornography, violence and gambling, what else is censored? We can’t allow the compromise of access to information of public interest, including mining accidents, slave workers at illegal kilns, the Yilishen scam, forced relocations and demolitions, the Sanlu milk powder scandal, the Deng Yujiao case, state governors snatching recording pens from journalists, the Shanxi vaccine scandal, and the news of trench oil being used as cooking oil.
    4. For people in power and governmental departments that introduce and implement procedures against the constitution, is there a need to censor this content?
    5. Can the players in the Internet industry, including Google, Baidu and other telecommunication companies, accept supervision by the public and seek transparent ways to solve regulatory issues, including but not limited to cooperation with independent third-party public groups?
    Facing these questions, the Chinese government never responded.
    The ambiguity of the policies are also used to foster domestic businesses while repelling foreign competitors. Foreign IT companies generally have difficulty operating in China as the Chinese Internet market simulates patterns of Gresham’s law. Ebay, Yahoo and many other prominent online companies had a high degree of expectation when they entered China, but they remain disappointed by the results, even to the point of exiting China. Social networking sites such as Facebook, Myspace and Twitter have yet to gain a foothold in China due to obstacles like censorship by the government and the favoritism shown to existing Chinese-made social networking sites.
    Google’s exit from China exposes the Chinese government’s unfair trade practices – China is violating the commitments made prior to joining the WTO. The unreasonable demands and irresponsibility that the Chinese government displayed during the negotiations with Google, plus the public media smearing campaign conducted after Google’s decision to exit, fully demonstrates the fact that the Chinese government is not a trusted business partner.
    The Chinese government must understand that in order to enjoy the business benefits of joining the WTO, they must play by the rules. If they cannot follow the rules, then they should exit the WTO just like how Google exited China.
    We hope that through this campaign, the WTO will take action to review the promises made by the Chinese government upon entering the WTO. We hope that this will give birth to a free Internet in China. No matter how small one’s power is, we believe that perseverance and our cumulative efforts will eventually change this world.