The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission will hold a public hearing on April 14, 2005, in Washington, D.C. to consider China's State Control Mechanisms and Methods. The hearing will examine the techniques employed by the Chinese government to curtail the free exchange of information via the Internet and the press. The effect of these control mechanisms on Chinese public perceptions of the United States will also be discussed. These topics are particularly timely given recent efforts by the Chinese government to monitor websites and chat rooms, large-scale arrests of Chinese citizens who post material the government deems offensive or threatening, and the firing of prominent scholars critical of the Central Propaganda Department. Witnesses have been invited to address (1) the mechanisms and methods used by the Chinese government to undermine the free dissemination of ideas, (2) recent political developments in China, and (3) the growth and trajectory of Chinese nationalism. At the hearing, the Open Net Initiative, funded jointly by Harvard University, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Toronto, will release its long-awaited report entitled "Internet Filtering in China in 2004-2005." The Commission also will hear from experts in academia and think tanks including Dr. Jiao Guobiao, former professor at Beijing University's College of Journalism and Communications. Members of Congress have been invited to voice their concerns on these important topics.

The hearing agenda is attached.		|
What:	Public Hearing on "China's State Control Mechanisms and Methods"
When:	Thursday, April 14, 2005 (8:30 am 5:00 pm)
Where:	Room 385, Russell Senate Office Building, Delaware Street, NE and Constitution Avenue, NE, Washington, DC