p2p news / p2pnet: New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof used two new blogs to denounce the imprisonment of Chinese colleague Zhao Yan, and called for president Hu Jintao to “set an example in the fight against corruption by disclosing his financial assets”.

The Chinese-language sites are on Sohu (SOHU.O) and Sina (SINA.O) to, “test the limits of the Internet in China,” says The Washington Post, “but one of them could not be accessed on Wednesday”.

Zhao, 44, has pleaded not guilty to fraud and leaking state secrets, but his lawyers expressed little hope he would be cleared of charges for which he faces more than 10 years in jail, says the story.

Sohu appeared to be down yesterday, but Kristof’s sina blog was still online and, “The upshot is that China is much freer than its rulers would like,” he said in his column, going on:

“To me, this trend looks unstoppable. I don’t see how the Communist Party dictatorship can long survive the Internet, at a time when a single blog can start a prairie fire,” borrowing a quote from the late Chairman Mao Zedong.

Also See:
The Washington Post - Blogs test political limits of Internet in China, June 21, 2006
little hope - ‘Lies and silence’: Zhao Yan case, June 10, 2006

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If you’re Chinese and you’re looking for a way to access independent Internet news sources, try Freegate, the DIT program written to help Chinese citizens circumvent website blocking outside of China.

Download it here and feel free to copy the zip and host it yourself so others can download it.

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