China Blocks News, Internet Searches

By The Daily Telegraph
March 17, 2008

China's censors have tried to stem the flow of information from Tibet reaching the outside world and also block foreign news from reaching their own citizens.

Yesterday the government blocked YouTube in China, to prevent viewers seeing images of the protests and the army's brutal response. Any Internet search or page containing references to Tibet had already been blocked.

A Tibetan journalist covering his homeland from neighboring Nepal, who asked to be identified as Lhuboom, said, "I got some links so we can look at photos, but today only one link opens."

When the Daily Telegraph tried the link, the site had disappeared. Internet cafes have been closed, so while the Internet may not have been blocked all together there is little public access. "At this stage I think it's really difficult in Lhasa to use the Internet at all," he said.

Land line telephone and mobile phone services have also been disrupted by the authorities. There are widespread fears of phone-tapping for those still able to make calls.

"People suspect that the Chinese government are listening to their phones, so they don't talk, they are afraid," he said.

No foreigner has been allowed to enter Tibet since the middle of last week. As tourists flock to leave the region, there are fewer foreign witnesses to the unfolding repression.

Television news reports by CNN and the BBC were periodically cut during the day, and the screens went black during a live speech by the Dalai Lama carried on the networks.