In a joint statement issued earlier this week, the Chinese State Council and Communist Party's Central Committee acknowledged the value of the Net in increasing global information exchanges, promoting economic construction, and aiding scientific development, and said that China is increasing its links between domestic computer systems and the Internet.
In the statement, Chinese officials expressed concern about the lack of control over Net content, which gives users access to pornography and other harmful material. Officials say they must take effective measures to deal with the problem.
The Chinese government's statement comes on the heels of CompuServe's compliance with a request from German officials to block access to newsgroups containing sexually explicit material.
