Via Middle East Times -
BEIJING -- Chinese police have shut down a Beijing-based Internet news site that counted the World Bank, UN agencies, and a host of foreign aid groups as clients, its British founder said Wednesday.
The China Development Brief was told to end its operations July 4 as it was in violation of laws regarding the carrying out of social surveys, founding editor Nick Young said.
"I was formally told that I'm in breach of the law and that any further postings on the site would be in breach of the law," Young said. "I've been told clearly that almost any conversation I have with a Chinese person can be construed as conducting a survey, and any comment posted on the site could violate the law."
Young set up the nonprofit publication in 1995 with a $5,000-grant and has nurtured it into a leading source for information on social development and the growth of civil society in China.
Recently the site has carried in-depth stories and analysis of sensitive issues such as the spread of HIV-Aids in China, a recent slavery scandal, riots over the "one-child" policy, and press freedom.
Most subscribers to the site include private international aid donors and agencies, including grant-making foundations and nongovernmental organizations, Young said.
Multi-lateral institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the European Union, and UN system agencies, as well as international aid agencies from donor governments, are also subscribers.
The mission of the publication is "to enhance constructive engagement between China and the world," Young said. "I am one of the best friends China could have," he said. "My hope is that these actions have been precipitated by zealous state security agents, and that more senior figures in the government and Communist Party will realize that actions of this kind are not in China's best interest," Young said.
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I personally believe that discussions on social issues should take place in the streets with the people.
After all, these policies are created by the government for the (good of) people...shouldn't they have a right to disagree?
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