China is attempting the impossible - to control the Internet. It has created new rules to stop activities on the network which harm the state.

China's Deputy Public Security Minister, Zhu Entao, said that the country had benefited greatly from use of the Internet in the field of cultural and academic exchanges, but he warned it had also allowed users to publicise harmful information and leak state secrets.

The authorities say the network should not be used to promote separatism or defame the government. They also want Internet providers to help track down violators.

The new rules cover a wide range of crimes, including leaking state secrets, political subversion and spreading pornography and violence. They are also designed to protect against computer hacking, viruses and other computer-related crime. They call for unspecified 'criminal punishments' and fines of up to 15,000 yuan ($1,800).

Under the new laws, Internet providers will have to take greater responsibility for their clients. The punishments will apply to both providers and users who violate the rules - including business organisations as well as individuals.

China's dilemma

The new regulations may be hard to enforce. They highlight the Chinese authorities' dilemma over use of the Internet, which now has an estimated 250,000 users nationwide.

Tough restrictions introduced in 1995 require all users to register with police and could in theory mean that anyone sending an e-mail abroad would require an export declaration.

In practice, these rules are rarely fully enforced. And with everyone from government departments to the tourism authorities on the holy mountain, Mount Taishan, opening their own Web sites, controls seem to have been relatively relaxed in recent months.

Locks on access to foreign news services have been lifted and users in Beijing say they can access Web sites such as that run by the Dalai Lama's Tibetan government-in-exile without any problem.

Controls on Chinese language Web sites run by exiled pro-democracy organisations are tighter, but this has not stopped one such group sending a regular bulletin by e-mail from the United States to randomly selected Internet users in China.

The spread of Internet cafes in the big cities, and availability of Internet connections in colleges, also makes policing more difficult.

The Chinese government may simply be hoping that despite the recent rapid expansion, the number of users is still too small to pose any significant political threat.
 

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