China's Internet censor-in-chief gets a warm welcome at Facebook headquarters

China is in a league of its own when it comes to online censorship. The government has long gone to great lengths to cleanse Chinese cyberspace of topics it finds objectionable. Even so, party official Lu Wei stands out for imposing unprecedented restrictions on Internet activities in the Peoples Republic.

The new Internet czar of China recently paid a visit to the US. And Lu had a packed schedule that included plenty of high-level meetings in Washington, which has taken an increasingly harder line toward China on matters of online censorship and computer hacking.

The meeting that attracted the most attention,though, was probably Lus visit to Mark Zuckerbergs office in Silicon Valley.

When Lu showed up, the Facebook chief executive just happened to have a copy of the Chinese presidents book sitting on his desk. Xi Jinping: The Governance of China is a weighty compilation its more than 500 pages in English of speeches and commentary by Xi, written with a heavy dose of Marxist jargon familiar to anyone who follows the Chinese Communist Party closely.

Mr. Lu is basically an old school propagandist, says Paul Mozur, who covers the Internet in China for the New York Times. And the book by Xi, as Mozur describes it, is the prime propaganda text thats been put out by President Xi Jinping.

Apparently, Zuckerberg told Lu that the Chinese presidents book is helping him and his staff at Facebook better understand socialism with Chinese characteristics. Mozur says he verified this account with someone who attended the private meeting.

Facebook has been blocked in China since 2009, leading to some instant criticism of Zuckerberg on social media for his perceived attempt at currying favor with the Chinese government.

The episode might be concerning to lots of Facebook users, says Mozur. Xis book doesnt hide the Chinese presidents skepticism toward the value of online freedom. Censorship and control over the Internet is a key element of Chinas goals for the future, is a message that comes through clearly in the book, Mozur says.

As the man in charge of implementing Chinas national Internet policies, Lu has made his own mark. He has singlehandedly presided over ... an unprecedented crackdown, Mozur says. Thats in a place where, already, the censorship regime and blocks were already [among] the most sophisticated and strict in the world.

It is easy to see why Zuckerberg would want Beijing to lift the ban on Facebook. China has more than 600 million people online and more than 40 percent of the global growth in the tech industry will come from China alone next year, according to Mozur. The big American tech players know they have to secure a place in the China market if theyre going to continue to grow.

Read this article:
China's Internet censor-in-chief gets a warm welcome at Facebook headquarters