Abstract:
Freedom of expression in the People’s Republic of China has been a controversial theme since the concepts of “freedoms” and “rights” began to be debated in this country and their observance was introduced into the national law. Despite international condemnation, China still implements a strong censorship policy on media content, striving to rebuff foreign interference and maintain control over social order. Many secondary regulations on media management in fact violate the Constitution, which affirms that Chinese citizens enjoy the various internationally recognized freedoms, including those of speech and publication, by imposing rules that strictly limit the usage of the instruments people have to express their voice.
This work firstly analyses how freedom of speech is legally protected and media control is implemented in the PRC; it then focuses on Internet control, analyzing how regulations are applied to manage its usage and how official organs apply censorship.
The two translated academic articles provide an understanding of the development of the management system of information and news on the Internet during the last 20 years in the PRC and the situation of freedom of speech on the net, with an analysis of its principles, safeguard and limits. The subsequent commentary focuses on the main points and problems encountered while translating.
The final section researches official online news items and draws attention to how foreign media – in this case, The Guardian online edition – and Chinese media – the Xinhua News Agency online edition, called Xinhuanet – differently report information: word usage, tone , intentions are compared and contrasted.
