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http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050318-062031-1826r.htm
Beijing, China, Mar. 18 (UPI) -- China's most popular online chat room, hosted b
y Beijing's Tsinghua University, has been closed to non-students to limit the ex
change of ideas on the Internet.
Operators of the chat room at the Shuimu Tsinghua website (www.smth.org) posted
a message saying that non-students would no longer be able to log on, the South
China Morning Post reported Friday.
The university is China's foremost for science and technology, and the chat room
has become famous for its intellectual debate and social commentary, as well as
updates on information technology.
Its popularity is comparable to that of Beijing University chat room, which had
30,000 users before it was shut in September.
New rules from the Ministry of Information Industry go into effect Sunday, and w
ill hold chat room operators liable for any \"objectionable content\" on their sit
es. All Tsinghua users were required to register under their true identities by
Tuesday of this week.
The Ministry of Education has issued a circular on strengthening \"political thou
ght\" at universities, and the Communist Party's Propaganda Department has increa
sed its monitoring of cyberspace for subversive trends, the report said.
As a result, Weblog portals have discouraged their users from discussing politic
al or sensitive topics. |
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