U.S. Information Technology Office

White paper on the Internet in China

On June 8 Tuesday, the Information Office of the State Council of China (SCIO) published a white paper on China’s Internet policy. The paper lists facts of the development and use of the Internet in China, briefs China’s policies on the Internet, and stresses the guarantee of citizens' freedom of speech on the Internet. It states that by the end of 2009 the number of Chinese netizens had reached 384 million, 618 times that of 1997, after an annual increase of 31.95 million users. It also states that the Chinese government has been actively advocating and supporting the development and application of the Internet across the country. The white paper also offers a loose guideline for the government's basic priorities in making Internet policy: active use, scientific development, law-based administration and ensured security.

The white paper is 31-page long, carrying six sections: Endeavors to Spur the Development and Application of the Internet, Promoting the Extensive Use of the Internet, Guaranteeing Citizens' Freedom of Speech on the Internet, Basic Principles and Practices of Internet Administration, Protecting Internet Security, and Active International Exchanges and Cooperation. Please click this link for the full white paper: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-06/08/content_9950198.htm

USITO Notes: The white paper reviews history of China’s Internet, starting with the first connection in 1994, a single 64-kb line in Beijing’s Zhongguancun district. It then draws a line to the present day, when China boasts more Internet users than any other country.

The paper contains an entire section on "guaranteeing citizens' freedom of speech on the Internet." The likely intent is to mollify concerns from certain sectors of society that a stricter Internet policy in recent years threatens the only relatively open forum in Chinese society. However, the paper gives ample flexibility for the government to selectively apply censorship: “While exercising such freedom and rights, citizens are not allowed to infringe upon state, social and collective interests or the legitimate freedom and rights and other citizens.”

In the English-language version of the paper, Twitter is mentioned as a positive development for China's Internet and evidence of Internet freedom.“The newly-emerging online services, including blog, Twitter, video-sharing and social networking websites, are developing rapidly in China, and provide greater convenience for Chinese citizens to communicate online.” Twitter is a US-based service that is blocked in China. It seems the Twitter reference is a mistranslation, as the Chinese version only refers to “micro-blogs” in general. Either that, or the translator has a good sense of irony.

India Selects Security Audit Firms to Certify Imported Telecom Gear

News from India early this week said that the Indian Department of Telecommunications has identified fifteen companies who will certify telecom equipment imported to India from foreign telecom equipment vendors. The Indian authority began selecting the audit firms since early this month and so far it has shortlisted fifteen companies, including British Telecom (BT) to do the certification work.

Official sources said that after Chinese government protested against India's new rule barring Chinese telecom vendors, the Indian government has asked the Department of Telecommunications to pick up a third-party international security audit firm to help certify the imported equipment. Imports to India must first go through the audit firm for security evaluation before purchase by Indian telecom carriers. The audit firm may need to visit the plant of the vendor among other auditing measures, before issuing a security clearance. The Indian government said it will then allow telecom companies to import the equipment from foreign suppliers.

Indian government said the solution will be temporary one, valid for the next 12 months. India currently does not have any such certification agencies to certify telecom security issues, according to a June 13 report from the Press Trust of India. It is said the Indian government is also taking measures to establish a domestic certification agency to replace the international firms after the 12 month period.

USITO Notes: This is the most recent development, after India's initial brand caused a great deal of fuss in India as well as in the Sino-Indian bilateral relationship. The Indian government has finally decided that it will allow the Indian telecom companies to use Chinese made hardware if they can pass the "security audit".

This decision may allow India to avoid painful delays in Indian telecom projects as well as hurting Indian carriers by forcing them to pay more for non-Chinese alternatives. The Department of Telecommunications may allow Indian carriers to eventually "self-certification", however, in such cases, a bank guarantee would also be required. In the event that a security threat is detected, the operators will forfeit their bank guarantee and may also face criminal proceedings.

The Department of Telecommunications has also drawn up a comprehensive list of core equipment that will require mandatory security clearance by the international security audit agencies. We have found that this product list shares items in common with China's 13 information security product list which requires China's CCC test. Key items in the Indian list include: mobile switching centres (MSCs), MSC servers, routers, LAN switches, packet data serving nodes (PSDN), media gateways, serving GPRS support nodes (SGSN), soft switches, call servers, firewalls, intrusion detection systems, intrusion prevention systems, session border controllers (SBC), operation support systems (OSS) and provisioning management systems, among others. We will continue to track the development of this issue.