US Trade Represenative Seeks Information on Chinese Censorship
This week U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk announced a formal U.S. government attempt to obtain more information about China’s Internet censorship regime on behalf of U.S. companies. Invoking paragraph 4 of Article III of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), Ambassador Kirk requested that China answer detailed information regarding how and why China has censored certain American commercial websites. This provision requires China to “respond promptly” to requests for information regarding measures that affect trade agreements.
Ambassador Kirk has voiced concerns that Chinese online censorship may unfairly put U.S. companies at a disadvantage in comparison to Chinese businesses. “An Internet website that can be accessed in China is increasingly a critical element for service suppliers aiming to reach Chinese consumers,” so any censorship is particularly damaging for small and mid-sized businesses.
The USTR inquiries focused primarily on the operation of China’s censorship regime. Among other things, the request seeks to determine the ministry responsible for site blocking, their guidelines for determining which sites to block, the entities responsible for carrying out the blocking, and whether a process exists for appealing blocking orders.
China, for its part, has stated that its censorship and online filtering meet international standards. Chinese spokeswoman Jiang Yu went on further to say that China’s online restrictions were necessary for the healthy development of its country. The spokeswoman went on to say that the U.S. request was an attempt to impermissibly meddle in Chinese internal affairs.
The exact operation of China’s blocking and filtering regime is shrouded in mystery. Thus, obtaining the information requested would be an important first step to better understanding how China decides what material to filter. It remains to be seen how aggressive Ambassador Kirk is prepared to be should China fail to respond to the inquiries or provides inadequate answers.
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