Chinese Internet users hit 450 million...

More than 450 million Chinese use the Internet. Increasingly, news are spread online, including those about abuses by the authorities, which have responded by boosting censorship and controls to nip in the bud all forms of dissent organised via the net.

“By the end of November, the number of internet users had reached 450 million, a rise of 20.3 per cent compared to the same period last year,” said Wang Chen, minister for the press office of the State Council, China’s cabinet. That marks an increase of 30 million since July.

Such growth is not only quantitative. China’s booming online population has turned the Internet into a forum for citizens to express their opinions in real time in a way rarely seen in a country where the traditional media is under strict government control. More...

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