China Limits Cyber Access

China will tightly restrict access to international computer networks and keep foreign firms from offering information services, a government minister said.

The ministry of posts and telecommunications has helped set up data networks for financial, scientific and educational institutions and in April began offering limited access to the Internet, the global web of computer networks.

But China will not be an interchange for the free-flow of information.

“By linking with the Internet, we do not mean the absolute freedom of information,” said Wu Jichuan, head of the ministry.

Although he didn’t give specifics, Wu likened the ministry’s task of monitoring the data networks to customs officers checking passports at international borders. Information allowed in will mostly be business-oriented, he said.