
How the World Trade Organization could open up Internet access in China - rglovejoy
http://reason.com/archives/2010/02/02/battering-down-the-great-firew
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prole
> _Now the European Union and the U.S. Trade Representative office are
> considering an argument that the Great Firewall violates China’s obligations
> to permit free trade in services under its agreements with the WTO._

I feel that if anyone were to pressure China in this manner, by citing this
economic argument, it'd be quickly rebuffed by the Chinese as a necessary
"political" control that can be found in a number of WTO member states.

Examples include limiting or even prosecuting hate speech (anti-religious,
Holocaust denial, advocating genocide), blocking websites with illegal content
(drug use, bomb manufacture, child pornography), and so on... The websites
most noticeably blocked in China allow user-generated comments and videos that
cannot be controlled by the Chinese government, but will have similarly
illegal-in-China content (Tibet/Taiwan independence advocates, anti-government
protesters).

There's little to this argument without appearing hypocritical to the Chinese
government, and the firewall (GFW) is too important to their goal of a
"Harmonious Society" - it will fall only if the Party falls.

