China, the fragile 21st century mercantilist state

Hit 2
At China's Inaugural World Media Summit in October 2009, Hu Jintao announced the US$6.6 billion initiative to merge Xinhua, People's Daily and CCTV into a Chinese style CNN to become a respected 24/7 multi-lingual global media giant. The summit earned the title of the Media Olympics.

This unprecedented investment to raise China's global profile only exposed the paranoia over China's plummeting international image and urgent need for mianzi. It failed miserably, and China's credibility went out the window by first banning discussion on freedom of information at the summit, and then announcing Li Changchun, head of China's propaganda and media control network, would run the network.

Despite his host's directive, AAPs Clive Marshal responsibly made his position clear with "There must be no compromise on the quality of news and no censorship of the news". Rupert Murdoch objected to the "lack of intellectual property protection domestically" and commented on the actions of "content kleptomaniacs".

Beijing tasted bitter diu lian once again. No offer was forthcoming to host a second World Media Summit.

Hit 3
China failed to demonstrate its influence and ability to secure exemptions and major financial benefits for China and its developing nations' client states at the Copenhagen Summit. China's actions merely worsened the plight of many developing nations who had supported China, especially those most in danger of inundation.

Hit 4
Google signalled its intention to withdraw from China, and report on China's cyber attack on Google's source code and Gmail accounts. Google's legal officer released the following:

"We have taken the unusual step of sharing information about these attacks with a broad audience, not just because of the security and human rights implications of what we have unearthed, but also because this information goes to the heart of a much bigger global debate about freedom of speech."

The Great Firewall of China blocked the report from electronic media networks as well as China's print, TV and radio networks. So far, Beijing's response comprised media reports claiming that Google was miffed that it could not compete with Baidu on China's vast internet market.

Google was not the only target.

Yahoo and a number of prominent multinational corporations, as well as several foreign governments' offices and defence departments, also came under attack.

Beijing's intensifying efforts indicate serious concerns that the matter may get out of hand and beyond its control, especially in the UN and the WTO.

The Google incident is another indication that Beijing has taken a step too far.