Mao Tse-tung's offspring does not need the Internet

As the Chinese government has stated, it plans to shut down some 150 thousand unlicensed Internet-cafes throughout the country. This decision was made after the incident in Beijing, when 25 people died in a fire in one such cafe. The Beijing mayor closed all Internet-cafes in the city after the tragedy. In connection with this fact, the governmental opposition accused the authorities of using the fire as a pretext for toughening control over the use of the world-wide web in China. The Chinese Ministry for Culture released a statement in which it was said that the owners of all unlicensed Internet-cafes would be called into criminal account, beginning from July of the current year. Other establishments will have to prove that they strictly observe all security rules.

Translated by Dmitry Sudakov