Communism is a losing bargain in an information-accessible world. China isn’t worried; the Chinese government is happy to cut off access to information.
First China blocked Facebook and Twitter, then Google, and now cell phones are suspiciously dropping calls at the word “protest,” ever since, well — ever since protests broke out in the Arab world.
BEIJING — If anyone wonders whether the Chinese government has tightened its grip on electronic communications since protests began engulfing the Arab world, Shakespeare may prove instructive.
A Beijing entrepreneur, discussing restaurant choices with his fiancée over their cellphones last week, quoted Queen Gertrude’s response to Hamlet: “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” The second time he said the word “protest,” her phone cut off.
He spoke English, but another caller, repeating the same phrase on Monday in Chinese over a different phone, was also cut off in midsentence.
A Beijing entrepreneur, discussing restaurant choices with his fiancée over their cellphones last week, quoted Queen Gertrude’s response to Hamlet: “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” The second time he said the word “protest,” her phone cut off.
He spoke English, but another caller, repeating the same phrase on Monday in Chinese over a different phone, was also cut off in midsentence.
See full article at the New York Times; h/t Daily Caller.
If you love something, set it free. What the Chinese government feels for its citizens? That ain’t love, and that certainly ain’t free.
