Is it possible for my blog statistics to provide insights into global political shifts? For more than a year and a half, this blog has scarcely been viewed by anyone inside China. While there could be many cultural and linguistic reasons for this, I have always assumed the government has been blocking free access to the internet. Now that may be changing in a small but significant way. Last month, for the first time, China made it into the top ten of countries from which this blog is viewed. This month it is in the top eight. What's going on?
It's not really a big deal that from a country with over 1.3 billion people, I'm getting just over 100 page views per month, but it is a very significant change. Now why would China have been blocking access to my blog? I've never criticized the Chinese government except for its tacit acceptance of female infanticide; its refusal to permit free speech, a free press, or freedom to practice religion; its horrendous human rights record including widespread intolerable working conditions for many factory and farm workers; worldwide theft of intellectual property including tolerance of widespread counterfeiting of luxury items and unauthorized reproduction of copyrighted books; coordinated hacking of sensitive institutions in the United States and around the globe; a ghastly domestic environmental record; unconscionable support for a psychopathic tyrant in North Korea; and an unwillingness to use its international political clout to rein in any other despotic governments. Aside from those things, and the lack of democratic institutions and free elections, I have very little to say against the Chinese government.
I'm not sure what's going on now. Either the Chinese government has loosened the reins on internet access, or these page views are all the work of government hackers trying to bring my blog down. I don't believe opinions voiced here in my little corner of cyberspace are of any strategic importance to the Chinese, and it would be foolish of them to waste their energy on someone as peripheral as I am. Still, I suspect that if they wanted to hack my blog, they most probably could.
More likely though, the Chinese are relaxing their strictures on internet access just a bit, perhaps only on a trial basis. Who would have thought that even a few dozen of those 1.3 billion souls would have chosen to come here and view my little blog? I'd be delighted to learn that the Chinese people have gained the right to visit any website in the world as a guaranteed freedom. Only then will I personally really feel the magnitude of the more than 1.3 billion Chinese who stay away from this site. But then it will be by choice. Their choice.
 |
| Attempted Bloggery Page Views by Countries for this Past Month |
It's not really a big deal that from a country with over 1.3 billion people, I'm getting just over 100 page views per month, but it is a very significant change. Now why would China have been blocking access to my blog? I've never criticized the Chinese government except for its tacit acceptance of female infanticide; its refusal to permit free speech, a free press, or freedom to practice religion; its horrendous human rights record including widespread intolerable working conditions for many factory and farm workers; worldwide theft of intellectual property including tolerance of widespread counterfeiting of luxury items and unauthorized reproduction of copyrighted books; coordinated hacking of sensitive institutions in the United States and around the globe; a ghastly domestic environmental record; unconscionable support for a psychopathic tyrant in North Korea; and an unwillingness to use its international political clout to rein in any other despotic governments. Aside from those things, and the lack of democratic institutions and free elections, I have very little to say against the Chinese government.
I'm not sure what's going on now. Either the Chinese government has loosened the reins on internet access, or these page views are all the work of government hackers trying to bring my blog down. I don't believe opinions voiced here in my little corner of cyberspace are of any strategic importance to the Chinese, and it would be foolish of them to waste their energy on someone as peripheral as I am. Still, I suspect that if they wanted to hack my blog, they most probably could.
More likely though, the Chinese are relaxing their strictures on internet access just a bit, perhaps only on a trial basis. Who would have thought that even a few dozen of those 1.3 billion souls would have chosen to come here and view my little blog? I'd be delighted to learn that the Chinese people have gained the right to visit any website in the world as a guaranteed freedom. Only then will I personally really feel the magnitude of the more than 1.3 billion Chinese who stay away from this site. But then it will be by choice. Their choice.
0662
Wow,I knew China and Google were at it again, with Google turning off the censorship warning recently. Good job with chipping away at the unfettered flow of information on all things Attempted Bloggery.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could tell you I had something to do with it. From what I can see, censorship is still rife in China. It's possible that the some Chinese individuals may be accessing my blog using "virtual private networks" which allow for anonymous internet access. It is also possible, I suppose, that the Chinese authorities aren't yet aware of just how subversive I can be.
DeleteWell as one who promotes the reading of banned books I'm certainly not going to let them in on your little secret ;-)
ReplyDeleteYes, let's keep it hush-hush.
DeleteMight have something to do with China's new first lady, Peng Liyuan. "As a singer and artist and a long-term advocate for poverty relief and other causes, Peng has an excellent public image."
ReplyDeleteGreetings, Leo! I guess the first question we should ask is whether the Chinese government is actually changing its restrictive policies or internet users are finding new ways around government censorship. If censorship is indeed being relaxed, I stand ready to applaud whoever is responsible for it.
Delete