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Scholars: Refuse to Bow Down to China Censorship Pressure

by Associated Press

   BEIJING --

   Scholars are using an online petition to urge Cambridge University
   Press to restore more than 300 politically sensitive articles removed
   from its website in China after a request from authorities.
   Cambridge University Press said Friday that it had complied with a
   request to block certain articles from The China Quarterly within
   China. They touch on politically sensitive subjects including the 1989
   Tiananmen Square crackdown, the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution and the
   status of Tibet.
   The petition circulating among academics calls on CUP to turn down
   censorship requests from the Chinese government. It says that academics
   and universities reserve the right to boycott CUP and related journals
   if it gives into the Chinese government's demands.
   The petition says the academics believe in the free and open exchange
   of ideas and information and that it is "disturbing... that China is
   attempting to export its censorship on topics that do not fit its
   preferred narrative."
   By Monday, more than 140 people had signed the 2-day-old petition on
   change.org.
   The Global Times newspaper, published by the ruling Communist Party,
   said in an editorial Monday that China blocks some information on
   foreign websites that it deems "harmful" to Chinese society, and that
   CUP has to abide by Chinese law if it sets up a server within China.
   If Western institutions "think China's internet market is so important
   that they can't miss out, they need to respect Chinese law and adapt to
   the Chinese way," the editorial read.
   Cambridge University Press, which is part of the famed British
   university, said in its Friday statement that it had complied with a
   request from a Chinese import agency to block individual articles
   within China to ensure that other materials it publishes would remain
   available in China.
   It added that it was "troubled by the recent increase in requests of
   this nature'' and intended to discuss the issue with Chinese
   authorities at the Beijing International Book Fair, which takes place
   this week.