By Josh Chin (’07), Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor
August 24, 2006

BEIJING – China is considering a new Emergency Response Law that would give local governments the right to “manage news media reports” about emergencies. The law would fine news outlets up to $12,500 for reporting on those events without permission or in a way that “causes serious consequences.”

The proposed changes, first floated in late June, follow a string of reports about disasters - particularly coal mining accidents - that has embarrassed officials, and in some cases led to legal action.

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By Michael Zhao (’07), Forbes
Aug 14, 2006

Google is searching for a winning strategy in China. Google caught flak when it caved in to pressure by China’s government censors to filter Web search results. Yahoo, MSN and all of the Chinese search services play ball with censors, too. Despite that and despite the fact that Google discloses when results are filtered and has pointedly declared its reluctance to cooperate, it was branded an amoral collaborator. And Google’s join-’em-if-you- can’t-beat-’em act isn’t working, either. The search race in China, the world’s second-largest base of Internet users, is going to the home team. While Google has been sleeping on its…

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