Beijing: China on Friday rejected US criticism
of its Internet censorship as "unreasonable" and warned
Washington against harming bilateral ties on a row over
Google`s threat to quit the Chinese market.
The US should respect facts and stop unreasonable
accusations on China in the name of so-called Internet
freedom, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said while
commenting on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton`s demand that
Beijing lift restrictions on citizens` use of the Internet.
"The US side had criticised China`s policies on
Internet administration, alluding that China restricts
Internet freedom. We firmly oppose such words and deeds, which
were against the facts and would harm the China-US relations,"
Ma said in a statement posted on the ministry`s website.
In a major policy speech on Internet freedom in
Washington, Clinton yesterday reiterated US support for "a
single Internet where all of humanity has equal access to
knowledge and ideas".
She also asked China "to conduct a thorough
investigation of the cyber intrusions" revealed by US Internet
giant Google and for "its results to be transparent".
"We urge the United States to respect facts and stop
using the so-called Internet freedom issue to criticise China
unreasonably," Ma said.
The Chinese constitution protects the citizens` freedom
of speech, he said. China has its own domestic situation and
cultural traditions, and it accords with the world`s common
practice that the country administers the Internet according
to its laws and policies, the spokesman said.
PTI
