Blogging in China

Not too long ago, I wrote about Google's controversial decision to censor itself in return for access to the huge Chinese market. I argued in that post that "Google's censored presence in China may yet be the thin end of a wedge that is essential to opening up China to alternatives to its brutal totalitarianism".

Well, have a look at this piece in The Washington Post on the current state of blogging in China (no thanks to Microsoft, of course).

The case of Zhao Jing (a.k.a., "Anti") notwithstanding, there is at least an inkling of hope: "With as many as 16 million people in China writing blogs, the Internet has provided a platform for citizens to express their views, shattering the Communist Party's monopoly on the media. The state still controls newspaper, magazine and book publishing, but the proliferation of sites that let users publish and even broadcast audio and video online have undermined the party's ability to restrict who can address the public and attract an audience."

It's a fascinating story.