▲Great Wall of China, near Jinshanling [Jakub Halin-Wikimedia Commons].
COMMENTARY / Paulina Briz Aceves
The Great Wall of China was completed after decades of successive efforts by different dynasties, not only as a defensive line, but also as a sign of the Chinese attitude towards the outside world. Although this wall currently has no use, other than as a tourist attraction, it has been an example for the creation of another great wall, which although not physical, has the same effects as the original: to isolate the Chinese community from the outside world and to protect itself from attacks against its sovereignty.
The "Great Firewall of China" - the government's online surveillance and censorship effort - monitors all traffic in Chinese cyberspace and allows authorities to both deny access to a variety of selected websites and disconnect all Chinese networks from the global Internet. In addition to the Great Firewall, the Chinese government has also created a domestic surveillance system called "Golden Shield," which is administered by the Ministry of Public Security and other government Departments and local agencies. The Chinese government understands how valuable and powerful technology, innovation and the Internet are, so it is cautious about information disseminated on Chinese soil, due to its constant fear of a possible challenge to the Communist Party and disruption of China's political order.
China's cyber policies and strategies are hardly known in the international world, but what is known is that China's network security priorities are motivated by the Communist Party's primary goal of staying in power. China's rulers understand that cyber is now fully integrated into society. Therefore, they consider that in order to maintain political stability they must keep an eye on their citizens and control them, leaving them in the shadows by censoring not only general information, but also sensitive issues such as the Tiananmenplace massacre or the Umbrella Revolution in Hong Kong.
The filters that control what citizens see on the web have become more sophisticated. In addition, the government has employee about 100,000 people to monitor the Chinese Internet, to control information not only from the West, but even that generated in China itself. It is true that this meddling in the media has undoubtedly made the Chinese government assert its power over society, because it is clear that he who has the information definitely has the power.
