Net cafes thrive in China despite stern restrictions
Associated Press
BEIJING — The quiet in the huge Feiyu Net Cafe is broken only by the click of keyboards, the beep of computer games and the occasional employee wheeling a cart piled with box lunches and shouting, "Who wants food?"
The place is often packed. It's a scene repeated in tens of thousands of Internet cafes that have sprung up across China in the past five years.
These cafes are popular places for young Chinese to check their e-mail, visit news sites and play computer games. They also present a major headache for the Communist government leaders.
A nationwide crackdown that began in April led to the closing of more than 8,000 Internet cafes accused of promoting crime and corrupting young Chinese by giving them access to pornography.
Police have detained at least 15 people for online dissent — the first 18 months ago, but most of them more recently. Two were sentenced recently to up to four years in prison.
Human-rights groups say the government has also shuttered popular forums for online political discussions, including two that carried criticisms of the government's media controls and its 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.
"Wang ba," or "Net bars," are a part of urban life as China embraces the Internet for entertainment, education and socializing.
Depending on the time of day, Internet access usually costs the equivalent of 36 cents to 60 cents per hour — not cheap by Chinese standards but reasonable.
Efforts to supervise use of the Internet are plain to see at Feiyu's main outlet near Peking University. Visitors are greeted with a list of 50 rules, including bans on accessing Web sites or materials deemed "pornographic, anti-government, violent, unhealthy or superstitious." Employees keep an eye on computer screens as they empty ashtrays. Late last year, the government issued formal rules for Internet use.
General portal sites must use news from state-controlled media, seek special permission to offer news from foreign media and meet strict editorial conditions. Service providers are responsible for material posted on Web sites.
But many Chinese users manage to gain access to off-limit sites through overseas proxies — machines that act as gateways for Internet traffic, helping to hide a site's true origins.
