Beijing - Chinese President Hu Jintao called Tuesday for
stricter regulation of the rapidly developing internet to 'nurture a
healthy online culture.'
'Whether we can cope with the Internet is a matter that affects
the development of socialist culture, the security of information and
the stability of the state,' Hu was quoted as saying by the official
Xinhua News Agency.
'We should spread more information that is in good taste, and
promote online products that can represent the grand Chinese
culture,' added Hu, who is also head of the Communist Party.
He added a day after a meeting of the party's Politburo that
China's leaders should use online tools to strengthen Marxism.
Hu's comments came after the number of internet users in China
jumped 23.4 per cent last year and as the government seeks to put
controls and censor the free-wheeling web. Now, one in 10 Chinese
surf the web for a total number of 137 million users.
At the same time, the government issued new regulations for the
release of government information.
The State Council, China's cabinet, issued a decree that is to
take effect May 1, 2008, three months before the start of the Olympic
Games in Beijing. It said information released by the government
'should not cause social instability or threaten the safety of the
state, the public and the economy.'
Prime Minister Wen Jiabao signed the degree, which called on
government entities across China to release information on land
acquisitions, residents' relocations and compensation in the deals,
many of which have become contentious as people have complained they
have been forced off their land to make way for development in return
for inadequate compensation.
China has also been criticized for failing to release information
on pollution, natural disasters and health issues like bird flu, but
the new regulations said information on emergencies, environmental
protection, public health issues, food and pharmaceutical safety and
government spending is also to be released, but confidential business
or personal information from government databases is not to be
released without permission by the affected parties.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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