China Censors Blogs by Tibetan Poet Woeser
Posted on August 5, 2006
Reporters Without Borders has condemned the Chinese government's censorship of two blogs by Tibetan poet Woeser. Reporters Without Borders said Woeser used the blogs for poetry and essays about Tibetan culture. The blogs also included articles from Woeser's husband, Wang Lixiong, an independent Chinese writer.
Reporters Without Borders today condemned the sudden disappearance on 28 July of two blogs by leading Tibetan poet Woeser (also known as Oser and, in Chinese, Wei Se). They were shut down by the websites that hosted them - Tibetcul.net, a Tibetan cultural portal, and Daqi.com, a local blog platform - presumably on government orders amid a continuing wave of online censorship in China.Woeser husband ran a forum called Dijin-democracy.net that has also been shut down by the Chinese government according to Reporters Without Borders."We are appalled by the closure of Woeser's blogs and we call for them to be reopened," the press freedom organisation said. "As her poetry is banned in China, these blogs were the only way she had left to express herself. Their disappearance shows how the Chinese authorities go out of their way to limit Tibetan culture to folklore for tourists."
Reporters Without Borders added: "Political control of the Chinese Internet is becoming more and more strict. The Chinese search engines recently updated their word filters while chat forums have been closed on government orders. We again appeal to the Chinese authorities to respect freedom of expression, a right guaranteed under their constitution."
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