Chinese protest with a click of the mouse

In the past few weeks, the Chinese have been anything but silent, faced with
what they feel is an onslaught of unfair criticism from the West about their
country's policy toward Tibet and the Olympic Games.

Chinese people began by using blog posts and websites to condemn foreign
journalists for what they saw as biased coverage of China's crackdown on unrest
in Tibet, following riots in the region's capital Lhasa recently.

France then became a target for its attitude toward the remote Himalayan
region and the Olympic Games, culminating in the latest protests in China in
front of stores belonging to the French supermarket chain Carrefour.

Throughout all of this, the Internet played a crucial role in mobilizing
people in a massive patriotic outburst. Calls to come and protest, with
locations and times, were posted on Web portals popular with young Chinese.

“Internet and cell phones are powerful ways to connect people, spread
information and mobilize political actions, especially among the urban, young
and more educated population,” said Xiao Qiang, Director, China Internet Project
at the University of California. The first sign of online anger came just three
days after the Lhasa riots, with calls for 'death to separatists' posted on
websites.

But it was the western media's coverage of China's crackdown on the riots
that set off a spate of online patriotic activities, fuelled by the state-run
media's mass condemnation of foreign reports. An anti-CNN website was set-up by
a Chinese entrepreneur, exposing errors in foreign reporting; pro-China videos
were posted on YouTube; mass e-mails were sent to western media outlets in
China; and millions of MSN messaging service users put a heart followed by
'China' before their names.

It was extremely difficult to control the 210 million Internet users in China

The overseas Chinese community was as active as mainland inhabitants in
whipping up conde­mnation.

“The Internet is a social networking tool, and it is an ideal communication
tool for the overseas Chinese community,” Xiao said.

“Overseas Chinese go to familiar Web portals which are in Chinese, just as
foreigners around the world would look at familiar newspapers online,” Jonathan
Unger, Director-Contemporary China Center at the Australian National University
said.

For Chinese people living on the mainland, the Internet was even more sought
after due to its relative anonymity.

“In any media, when people feel safe that they don't have to disclose
themselves, it encourages a lot of different opinions, and this is very
important in the context of China,” said Wei Ran, Senior Fellow, Nanyang
Techno­logical University, Singapore.

Recently, online protests turned into real ones with demonstrations in front
of Carrefour stores across the country. These would never have been on such a
large scale had it not been for the Internet, but the technology was not enough
to make things happen, Wei said.

“If people don't think strongly about something, then technology will not
make it happen. But for highly charged issue like Tibet issue, the Internet
provides the right medium and technology to make things happen.”

The anti-France protests, fuelled by the chaotic Paris leg of the Olympic
torch relay and allegations that Carrefour supports Tibet— a claim it denies-are
similar to the anti-Japan protests of 2005, according to Unger.

“The Chinese used these (anti-Japan riots) as a way of being more patriotic
than their own government. The implication was that their government had failed
them in this respect, and by implication in other respects. And now with the
Internet you don't have to go out in the streets, you don't have to put yourself
in harm's way, and the movement can be much more massive,” Unger said.

Recently, China's state media tried to calm the mood, the government is wary
of the magnitude of the protests.

“In the current situation, Internet censors are purposefully and selec­tively
allowing the nationalist messages to be transmitted without much censorship.
This may change tomorrow but so far this is the case,” Xiao said.

Wei, however, said it was extremely difficult to control the 210 million
Internet users in China. “Most of these spend two to three hours a day on the
Internet. If you tie that all up, it's a horrible number to oversee.”