[governance] Lu Wei (China's Minister for the Internet): Liberty and Order in Cyberspace

Wed Sep 25 17:15:55 EDT 2013

(Interesting statement on Internet Governance by Chinese Minister as noted
in a comment on my blogpost...

M

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-09/09/c_132705681.htm

Lu Wei: Liberty and Order in Cyberspace (Full Text)

Liberty and Order in Cyberspace

Keynote speech at the Fifth China-UK Internet RoundtableSeptember 9, 2013）

Lu Wei: Minister of the State Internet Information Office, China

Good morning! Since I arrived in the United Kingdom, the birthplace of the
World Wide Web, I cannot help recalling a touching moment at the opening
ceremony of the 2012 London Olympic Games. Two teenagers, Frankie and June,
gave an exciting performance in tribute to the inventor of the World Wide
Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, for his gift to the world. Mr. Berners-Lee,
sitting in the center of the Olympic Stadium with a smile on his face,
tapped on a computer keyboard, and then a row of giant letters flashed
around the stadium: “THIS IS FOR EVERYONE”.

The sentence is short, but points out the relationship between man and the
Internet. As one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century, the
Internet is a treasure, a resource and a homeland for all mankind. It has
turned the world into a “village.” In this “village,” home to 7 billion
people, everyone pursues freedom and happiness. But by what means can we
achieve and safeguard liberty? The famous writer George Bernard Shaw once
said: “Liberty means responsibility.” I think I can also say “Liberty
means order.” The two are closely linked, as liberty is the aim of order
and order is the safeguard of liberty. Liberty cannot exist without order.
Where there is no order, there is no liberty. The more we seek liberty, the
more we need order. The essence of order is exactly that it is “for
everyone.”

For the sake of everyone: we advocate the establishment of an order, in the
following six aspects.

Firstly, we call for an order of mutual respect. In the United Kingdom,
being a “gentleman” means keeping to etiquette and order. In China, we
have a parallel title junzi. Being a “junzi” means “not imposing on
others what you yourself do not desire.” We also need “Internet junzi”
and “Internet gentlemen.” In cyberspace, people with different skin
colors, nationalities, cultures and languages should be equally entitled to
participation, free speech and development. Although each country has a
different status quo, culture and tradition, we should abandon prejudices,
respect differences and be tolerant and open. In particular, we should
respect cyber sovereignty, discard hegemony and avoid putting our own
country’s interests above those of other countries. We should join hands to
build an order for the development of the Internet on the basis of mutual
respect and equal treatment.

Secondly, we should encourage the establishment of an order for sharing
information. The Internet was designed for disseminating and sharing
information. Information channels capital, influences decision-making and
determines transactions. One factor undergirding the competitiveness of a
company or institution is whether it is able to understand market rules,
predict the outlook, discover opportunities, and control market risks
through information. The amount of information a country can obtain is an
important symbol of its soft power and influence. The Internet is rife with
problems, all of which are related to subjectivity, bias, imbalances and
asymmetry of information dissemination. Twenty percent of the world’s
population controls 80 percent of the information, while the remaining 80
percent of the population has access to less than 20 percent of the
information. This has led to a large information gap. We should strive to
break down the information barrier and bridge the information gap. We should
make information flow on the Internet freely, safely and in an orderly way,
and turn it into a treasure for everyone, thus bringing more benefits to
society and humanity.

Thirdly, we should encourage the establishment of an order for spreading
positive energy. The phrase “positive energy” topped the list of China’s
buzzwords in 2012. The popularity of the phrase is attributed to the book,
“Rip It Up”, written by the British psychologist Richard Wiseman. The
phrase “positive energy” has acquired extra levels of meaning in China
today. All positive, sound, inspiring, supportive, hopeful and loving people
and things are considered “positive energy.” Positive energy is meant to
give people confidence and hope, encourage people to love their country,
society and life, as well as to pursue nice things. Everything we do is
ultimately for the sake of spreading positive energy. Positive energy knows
no boundaries. If everyone were to spread positive energy on the Internet,
the world would be a much better place.

Fourthly, we should establish an Internet order which is civilized and
harmonious. The Internet is a product of social development, and a symbol of
modern civilization. It carries the important missions of passing on
cultural heritage and promoting civilization. But one cannot forget that
there is a large amount of harmful information on the Internet, especially
pornographic and violent contents, which have severely impaired teenagers'
physical and mental health. The “dregs” of the Internet, if not cleaned in
time, will affect social trends, child development, and the sound
development of the Internet. The British government has long been committed
to protecting young people from exposure to harmful information online.
Civilization and progress are the common pursuit of mankind. In order to
create a healthy and harmonious Internet environment, all countries should
cultivate a civilized Internet, and guide their people to use the Internet
in a civilized way. We should utilize the Internet to promote cultural
diversity, social progress and civilization.

Fifthly, we should establish an Internet order that helps maintain security.
The Internet is a worldwide platform for sharing information. It is “a
community of common interests”. No country is immune to such global
challenges as cybercrime, hacking and invasion of privacy. In cyberspace, it
is becoming increasingly difficult to uphold security for one’s own country
by sacrificing that of others. It is also not practical to pursue one’s own
interests by rejecting others’ needs. China is also a victim of hacking. We
have always firmly opposed all forms of Internet attacks. We hope to deepen
exchanges and cooperation with other countries in online cyber security,
anti-terrorism, law enforcement and protection of privacy. Through joint
efforts, we can build a strong foundation to safeguard cyber security.

Finally, we should establish an Internet order that features law-based
governance. Good order depends on rules. The Internet is a free and open
platform. Everyone has the right to speak. However, compliance with the law
is the bottom line that no one should violate. Last year, British Olympic
diver Tom Daley received a death threat from a Twitter user after missing
out on a medal. The user was later arrested. Recently, a British man was
arrested for a series of tweets reviling British feminist writer Caroline
Criado-Perez and threatening sexual assault. Cyber violence, online rumor
and online fraud are the tumors of the Internet. We must stick to the bottom
line and exercise governance in accordance with the law. What we advocate is
that all stakeholders of the Internet work together to build an
international order for Internet governance within the UN framework that is
multilateral, democratic and transparent. That will make the Internet more
orderly, and better serve the development of all countries and the interests
of all mankind.

As a developed country in the Internet world, Britain has advanced
experience in Internet content management, technical support, industry
self-regulation, and laws and regulations. In particular, the UK has
formulated a national strategy for the Internet. Such a decision is wise and
far-sighted. China is among the latecomers to the Internet. However, China’
s Internet is developing rapidly. It has two distinctive features: a huge
Internet population and a huge number of websites. With an Internet
penetration rate of 44.1 percent, China has almost 600 million Internet
users. And the number is still on the rise. The respective numbers of micro
bloggers and WeChat users have both exceed 300 million. More than 200
million micro blogs are posted and forwarded each day. The Chinese mainland
hosts more than 2,940,000 websites. Five Chinese websites, Baidu.com,
QQ.com, Taobao.com, Sina.com.cn and Sohu.com, are listed in the Top 20 Most
Popular Websites in the World in 2013. The Internet is a new platform for
many Chinese entrepreneurs to realize their dreams. The Chinese government
has stuck to its basic Internet policy: active use, scientific development,
law-based administration and ensured security. The Chinese Internet market
is open to the world. We are willing to share the fruits of the development
of China’s Internet with the world. Recently, the Chinese government
introduced a series of measures, such as promoting information consumption,
and implementing the "Broadband China" strategy, all of which demonstrate
China’s confidence and determination in accelerating Internet development.
The Internet in China is less than 20 years old and far from mature. China
needs to learn from the UK and other countries with a developed Internet in
service provision, management, development, use, and many other aspects.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has pointed out that it is in the common
interests of the international community to uphold peace, security,
openness, and cooperation in cyberspace. There are many things in common
between the Internet in China and the Internet in the UK. We have many
things to offer each other, and we have carried out good cooperation in
recent years. This is the fifth China - UK Internet round-table conference.
I feel that all nations across the world, including China and the UK, have
more and more consensuses, possess more and enjoy more resources to share
and more and more win-win opportunities.

Both as rapid developing Internet giants with great global influence, China
and the UK play a significant role in establishing the international
Internet order and shoulder important responsibilities. We sincerely hope
that China and the UK can deepen our consensus and strengthen cooperation in
the following five aspects:

Firstly, we should establish a regular exchange and communication mechanism.
We can open up dialogue channels between the Internet management departments
of our two countries. We can also strive to incorporate the Internet
roundtable conference into the China-UK Strategic Dialogue Framework so as
to lift it to a higher level.

Secondly, we should establish a new mechanism for collaborative innovation
cooperation. We should encourage our Internet companies to invest in each
other’s countries, promote R&D in key technologies and industry
cooperation, and promote the popularization and application of new
technologies.

Thirdly, we should establish a mechanism for research and consultation. We
should encourage research exchanges in the major theoretical and practical
issues about the Internet and actively explore rules for the development of
the Internet.

Fourthly, we should establish a cooperation mechanism for cyber security, so
as to reinforce coordination on the handling of problems including cyber
attack and youth protection, and jointly create a reliable safe and credible
cyber environment.

Finally, we should establish a mechanism for Internet information sharing,
embracing greater openness and tolerance and promoting the flow of
information on the Internet in an orderly and universally accessible way.

Ladies and gentlemen:

The ancient Chinese thinker Confucius said that a truly mature person is
someone who is able to "follow the dictates of his heart without
transgressing what is right. " In this Internet age, we should perform our
duties to establish, maintain and defend order, while enjoying what our
hearts desire. I am firmly convinced that the wise peoples of China and the
UK will live up to this historical mission. By deepening consensus and
promoting cooperation, we can achieve mutual benefit, and help build a new
international Internet order and a more beautiful future for the Internet!

I sincerely hope that the Internet will bring everybody happiness and health
.

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