China: January 6, 2005

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  The government continues to work on greater controls on what China's 87 million (and rapidly growing)  Internet users can see. While only one percent of the Internet content is in Chinese (90 percent is in English), the government knows that a lot of foreign content, especially reporting on Chinese events, gets translated into Chinese and circulated via email. Government officials are particularly nervous about the fact that a fifth of the Chinese Internet users are 18 or under, and very dependent on news and other information obtained from the Internet. The changes in attitudes, and awareness of China wide, and world, events, is seen even in the army. Soldiers have access to the Internet, or at least a few of them do. But those with Internet access are eagerly sought out by those who do not. People, especially young people, want to know what's going on.