China: Internet regulation is a sovereign issue, U.S. has no jurisdiction

The way the Chinese government manages the Internet in accordance with law is a sovereign matter and foreign courts have no jurisdiction according to international law, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told China Daily in a news conference.

Jiang’s statement was said in response to the recent lawsuit in which eight New York residents accused China’s biggest search engine Baidu.com and the Chinese government of Internet censorship.

“The Chinese government’s Internet management accords with international norms, and China always supports the development of the Internet and guarantees citizens’ lawful freedom of speech,” she said.

Duncan Clark, president of Beijing-based research firm BDA China, defends Baidu, saying that because search company operates in China, it has to follow Chinese regulations.

“China is not the only country that faces the issue of how to supervise the Internet, the difference is how they manage online information,” said Wen Weiping, associate professor at the Department of Information Security of Peking University.

Earlier this month, China established the State Internet Information Office, the government agency assigned to collaborate with different organizations for the supervision and filtering of the Internet in the country.

Cyber security experts in China continue to argue that the Internet cannot be a safe place until nations implement international agreements that better define and regulate cyber crime, provide oversight of the Internet, and set out new standards and rules for the industry.