The Chinese government's new policy that requires web users to register with their real identities has caused some concerns in and out of China. Many opponents believe this is  another sign that the government is keeping an iron grip on China's freedom of speech.

This is a reasonable assumption based on the previous silencing of dissident voices. But the transition to a new administration and the critical questions the new leaders are facing may also offer some hope that this time things could be different.

Supporters of the policy are right on at least one thing: freedom of speech doesn't legitimatize libel and rumors. And anonymity, while it protects honest talking, also protects dishonesty, maliciousness and hatred. 

In an ideal world, every adult with regular mental ability should be responsible for their own words. And at the same time, no one should be punished only for their opinions. The government shouldn't even be lurking there to eavesdrop on what people have to say.

But such an ideal world does not exist.

Even in the U.S., where freedom of speech is considered a fundamental value, it is no longer a secret that the authorities are watching and listening. American media have found that the New York Police Department imbedded a surveillance program in the Muslim community, the FBI started to watch Occupy Wall Street protesters a month before they set up their camp in New York's Zuccotti Park, and the government is building a data center in a desert in Utah to monitor the electronic correspondence of ordinary people. The number of surveillance cameras installed by the authorities in public spaces has also been increasing very rapidly in the recent years.  

Activities like these cause an outcry here in the U.S. every now and then. But they probably are unavoidable for security purposes. Indeed, thanks to these programs, a significant number of major planned terrorist attacks have been thwarted and some criminals captured quickly after they conducted crimes.

The real name registration is just like of any of these programs—theoretically, if you don't do anything wrong, there should be nothing to worry about. What makes people worried though, in the U.S. as well as in China, is if the authorities abuse the program and use the information they collect to crack down on innocent people.

Such a possibility was high in China before but it may not be as high now.

The new administration has sent out a tentative signal that it may be more tolerant to different voices by allowing CCTV to cover some controversial news such as the demolition of tombs in Zhou Kou City and allowing some critical comments that directly name the new leaders to remain online.

Of course, these gestures may not be a guarantee for a tolerant future. But there is also a practical reason for hope in the long run.     

Before the new administration was formed, the Chinese government had already been facing an increasingly difficult challenge — the collapse of trust of the general public in the official media and official propaganda. It had reached a point that when there are different narrations of an incident, people would automatically choose to believe the unofficial one. Several major domestic media outlets published articles on this subject indicating the government had realized the problem.

To erase all the unofficial narrations, even with real name registration, may still be a mission impossible in today's China where people are much more hungry for and savvier about information. Even if it could be done, it would only reduce trust in the official version of events further. And it is hard for me to imagine that the government is launching a new policy to achieve a goal like this.     

Rebuilding the trust is the alternative. And the real name registration policy could be a perfect harbinger for this. If people could see that the government keeps its word, and no one suffers if they make critical comments provided they aren't going to trigger violence, this goal can be achieved.

Of course, even if the government has such an intention, the implementation of the new policy could still be a mess, given the twistable concepts of rumor and libel and the different ways local law enforcement officials can think and operate. Still, things like offering extra protection to people who act as whistleblowers to reveal corruption could help.      

Whether this is only my naïve good wishes for the new year still remains to be seen. Recent incidents like the forced revision of an editorial at the Southern Weekly and the shutdown of the website of Yanhuang Chunqiu magazine did make things look like three steps forward and two steps back. But given that the Chinese people will continue to embrace the Internet and the government will insist on its commitment to the real name registration policy, let me cross my fingers and hope my instinct proves to be right.