Tsinghua U. Prof Xiong meets with Columbia U. Prof Tim Wu on Development of Chinese Internet
From China Herald - Writer Tim Wu decribes a meeting with Tsinghua professor Xiong Chengyu, seen as "a personal advisor to Chinese President Hu Jintao on internet policy". A rather typical West-meets-East gathering. Wu ends up being amazed:
Xiong was of the new breed, and preempting me, he wore jeans with a jacket, like a 60-year old internet hipster. In conversation it turned out he was something of an internet utopian himself. He spoke of a network of great transformative power for China’s economy, culture, and society. A network that would take China out of its present cage, its underdeveloped version of itself. That would create applications to match and compete with U.S. versions, and even interestingly, a content industry that can best Hollywood.
Of course Wu has to bring up the current restraints on the internet in China (he wrote a book about it) and Xiong tries to explain why these restraints are needed to offer an unprecedented freedom. Wu tried to find a way to frame the China story. Will it develop like Singapore, Europe, or more like the US? Of course Xiong does not buy that. More of these meetings are needed. (Hattip to China Web 2.0 review)
Update I: Here is a (slightly outdated) paper Xiong presented in 2002 on China & the Internet
Update I: Here is a (slightly outdated) paper Xiong presented in 2002 on China & the Internet
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