China to unveil Internet addiction treatment standard by 2010

August 14th, 2009 BOSTON - The US government is covertly testing technology in China and Iran that will allow citizens to by-pass internet censorship set up by their governments. The Telegraph quoted a senior official at the Broadcasting Board of Governors, an independent US government agency, as saying : "We have people testing it in China and Iran." Ken Berman, the Board's IT chief, however,provided few details on the new system, which is in the early stages of testing.

August 14th, 2009 SHANGHAI - A major Internet pornography syndicate was busted in China, when 13 people were detained for involvement in a cluster of websites that attracted 12 million members. According to the Suqian Public Security Bureau, the gang, Dikawen, managed 13 websites over a two-year period.

August 6th, 2009 Chinese teen dies at Internet addiction rehab campBEIJING — China is investigating the death of a teenager who was allegedly beaten to death in a camp designed to treat Internet addiction, state media said. Deng Senshan, 15, died Sunday, less than a day after his parents sent him to the camp in southern Guangxi province, Xinhua News Agency reported.

August 4th, 2009 NANNING - A teenager in a Chinese camp meant to help people fight Internet addiction was beaten to death by camp workers. Public security authorities in south China's Guangxi Zhuang said they have detained four people in Nanning City in association with the death of the teenager.

July 16th, 2009 BEIJING — More people now go online in China than there are people in the United States. The country's rapid economic growth and expansion of Internet access in more areas has fueled a sharp increase in Internet users, totaling 338 million by the end of June, a government-sanctioned research group said Thursday.

July 14th, 2009 BEIJING - The Chinese Health Ministry has ordered a halt to the controversial electroshock therapy, which it was useing to treat teen Internet addicts. The ministry has said that the therapy, which was administered by a clinic in Linyi, Shandong province, is not safe.

July 14th, 2009 China stops shock therapy for Internet addictsBEIJING — China's Health Ministry has ordered a hospital to stop using electric shock therapy to cure youths of Internet addiction, saying there was no scientific evidence it worked. Linyi Mental Health Hospital in eastern Shandong province used the treatment as part of a four-month program that has so far treated nearly 3,000 youths, the China Youth Daily newspaper has reported, citing the psychiatrist who runs it, Yang Yongxin.

June 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Access to information about sex on the Internet in China will be further restricted under a new regulation by the Ministry of Health. Under the regulation, which will come into effect on July 1, only health professionals and researchers can access websites that link to sex-related studies and research.

June 23rd, 2009 China says Web filtering software launch unchangedBEIJING — China is sticking to its planned launch of a controversial Internet censoring software in about one week, an official newspaper said Tuesday, despite Washington's concerns over the move's possible impact on trade and access to information. The China Daily said the plan to require the Web-filtering Green Dam Youth Escort software on all personal computers sold in China starting July 1 remains unchanged, citing an unnamed source from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

June 22nd, 2009 US presses China over Internet filteringBEIJING — Washington has expressed concern to Beijing over its new effort to censor Internet use and its possible impact on trade and access to information, the U.S. Embassy said Monday.

June 10th, 2009 BEIJING - Chinese authorities have rejected media reports that claim that the government is installing spyware on all computers in the guise of porn filters. From July onwards, all computers being sold in China will have pornography filtering softwares, but authorities claim that it is not advanced enough to act as spyware.

June 7th, 2009 SHANGHAI - In a bid to prevent Internet addiction of their children, Chinese parents are turning towards electro-shock therapy at a clinic that claims they will be "reborn" free of the obsession. However, the harsh methods used by the clinic have caused an outcry among 3000 teenagers, who have been subjected to this odd treatment, The Sunday Times reports.

May 29th, 2009 BEIJING - The Chinese Government has decided to target illegal Internet cafes as part of its four-month crackdown to stop teenagers from accessing harmful and violent content. Internet bars located in rural areas, joint rural-urban areas, and locations surrounding middle and primary schools are the main targets of the campaign, the China daily reports.

April 13th, 2009 BEIJING - China published Monday its first-ever action plan on human rights, pledging to further protect and improve the country's human rights conditions. The National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2009-2010), issued by the State Council, or Cabinet, highlighted various human rights goals that would be implemented in less than two years.

March 12th, 2009 BEIJING - A research paper issued by the China Policy Institute of the University of Nottingham (UK) has revealed that China is likely to overtake Japan to become the world's second largest economy, either this year or by 2010. Yao Shujie, the author of the research paper told China Daily in a telephonic interview, "Right now, we don't have figures for Japan's GDP in 2008, but I think China may have already overtaken Japan last year." Shujie had predicted in 2007 that China would reach the second position in the world's economic pecking order in 2018.