The missing link

• Source: China Daily
• [10:22 November 05 2009]
• Comments

Four months have passed since the bloody riots in Urumqi that killed almost 200 people and life has been slowly returning to normal.

But residents say their lives will continue to be affected until full Internet service is restored to the city.

The central government blocked access to the Web in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region just 24 hours after the July 5 riot because it was a vital tool used by ringleaders.

Initial investigations suggested separatist groups based overseas used social networking and blogging sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Tencent QQ, and MSN to contact rioters and orchestrate the violence, which left 197 dead and more than 1,700 injured.
 
As yet, there has been no official announcement on when communications will be fully restored, and locals have complained the lockdown is disrupting harmless Web activities, such as e-commerce and online shopping.

The region's telecommunications administration has appealed for understanding.

"To carry on my business, I had no choice but to set up a new office in Dunhuang, which is the closest town to Urumqi in Gansu province and has added to my costs. No Internet means no income for me," said Li Nan, who sells dried fruit online. "Dunhuang has become a holy place for businessmen like me, although it takes 14 hours to get here from Urumqi by train."

Online enterprises have been among the hardest hit since authorities cut access to the Internet in most of the Xinjiang region, including the capital Urumqi. But families have also been affected.

A mother, who declined to give her name, said her daughter is studying at a university in Australia but had to travel to Dunhuang to submit an assignment when she came home for a holiday in August. She said she could not even talk to her daughter on the phone as the international phone service was also suspended following the riot.

"I can't wait for the Internet to return so my daughter and I can chat again on MSN. At the moment, I have to ask her to call one of my friends in Beijing, then my friend calls me and tells me about their conversation. I miss the sound of my daughter's voice," said the mother.

With the armed police withdrawing from the streets of Urumqi, and shops and restaurants once again bustling with customers, residents say the city is already on the road to recovery. The lifting of the Web ban would be one of the final ingredients.

"Xinjiang needs the Internet. The region is already less developed (than other parts of the country) and cutting off the Net only make things worse. Imagine how many businesses could be lost because of the ban," said Jurat Hamiti, a 30-year-old businessman. "The region's economic development is just as important as stopping terrorists."

Rumors have circulated constantly as to when the service would be fully restored, with some predicting a return after the National Day holidays last month, others Nov 1. So far there has been no official word.

But while there is desperation in some quarters, many residents argue that the ban has actually helped the city.

A salesman surnamed He for machinery manufacturers Caterpillar told China Daily he is glad the Internet is blocked because he doesn't need to respond to business e-mails outside office hours any more, allowing him to spend more time with his family.

"We now communicate to our clients and business partners via fax at work. To our surprise, sales have actually picked up. I found there is so much more to life besides sitting by my laptop surfing," he said.

He Jing, who teaches English at the Xinjiang University in Urumqi, added: "My students study harder without the Internet. Some used to cheat by copying material straight from the Web for their assignments. Now they have to do everything on their own.

"However, we do miss being able to search the Internet for teaching materials."

A limited service was restored in August and residents can freely access more than 100 region-based Web portals, ranging from banks and local government departments to entertainment and online games. Isolating Xinjiang's communication lines has effectively made it one large intranet, which has boosted traffic to local web sites.

"We send staff to the news center set up by the regional government - the only public Internet access point in Urumqi - to get the latest news from Chinese Web portals and then upload onto our site, so our users learn what's going on outside Xinjiang," said Zhang Guojun, vice-president of news portal iyaxin.com.

He said a record 6 million people visited his website on Oct 1 to watch the National Day parade in Tian'anmen Square, Beijing. "We'd never dreamed of getting so many hits," he added.

Avid online shopper Li Wan, 26, said: "At first I felt hopeless without the Net, but now I have found I can get most of the information I need through local Xinjiang websites. I still can't wait for it to be reconnected, however, so I can start shopping on (auction site) Taobao again."

Only "privileged" people such as journalists and government officials are allowed to access the Web using one of the 24 laptop connections provided at the official news center set up at the Hoitak Hotel. Guests are logged and timed, while the information they send and receive is monitored.