VZCZCXRO1474
OO RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #1520/01 1561108
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 051108Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4354
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 7280
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 2640
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 1268
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2497
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RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RHMCSUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 BEIJING 001520 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
State for EAP/CM - SFlatt, JHabjan 
State for EEB/CIP - SFlynn, FSaeed, DGross 
USTR for Awinter, JMcHale, TWineland, AMain 
Commerce for MAC 
Commerce for ITA - IKasoff, NMelcher 
DOJ for CCIPS - MDubose and SChembtob 
FBI for LBryant 
State for White House OSTP Ambassador Richard 
Russell 
NSC for Melissa Hathaway 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD PGOV PHUM SOCI SCUL ECON CH
SUBJECT: "ESCORT OF THE YOUTH FLOWERS" - CHINA SEEKS 
TO MANDATE INTERNET FILTERING SOFTWARE IN NEW 
COMPUTERS 
 
Ref: Beijing 1206 
 
This cable is sensitive but unclassified.  Please 
handle accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: China's Ministry of Industry and 
Information Technology (MIIT) on May 22 mandated 
that all computers sold in China, whether imported 
or manufactured domestically, be pre-installed with 
"Green Dam - Escort of the Youth Flowers" Internet 
filtering software effective July 1, 2009.  With 
little more than 30 days advance notice, the 
announcement offers few details of the technical 
implementation and raises transparency and market 
access concerns for U.S. companies.  Compliance with 
this new requirement would in essence make foreign 
businesses complicit with China's censorship regime, 
and exposes foreign computers to potential 
cybersecurity vulnerabilities.  Emboffs will meet 
with industry representatives on June 8 to hear 
their response and proposed actions.  There appears 
to be early consensus to focus first on delaying the 
implementation deadline and pursue discussions with 
the Chinese government.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) China's Ministry of Industry and 
Information Technology (MIIT) on May 22 issued 
Circular No. 226, a document mandating the 
installation of "Green Dam - Escort of the Youth 
Flowers" Internet filtering software on all new 
computers, imported or made domestically, that are 
sold in China beginning July 1, 2009.  According to 
company documents, media reports, and conversations 
with Beijing-based trade association U.S. 
Information Technology Office (USITO), the software 
is a commercial application jointly developed by: (1) 
a Beijing company that provides text and image 
filtering technology for China's Great Firewall, and 
(2) a Zhengzhou company with ties to a Peoples' 
Liberation Army University.  Functioning much like 
anti-virus software, the application regularly 
connects to the Internet to download a current list 
of what content to block. 
 
Protecting the Youth Flowers 
---------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Circular says that central government 
agencies including MIIT, the Ministry of Finance, 
and the Civilization office of the CPC Central 
Committee have licensed the software to leverage the 
ongoing "Special Campaign to Restore the Internet 
from a State of Vulgarity" (see reftel) and to 
"build a green, healthy, and harmonious network 
environment and to avoid unhealthy information on 
the Internet from influencing and hurting the youth." 
According to a May announcement by MIIT, Green Dam 
filtering software has already been installed in 
2.17 million primary and middle schools in China -- 
80 percent of the nation's total.  The mandate for 
all schools to install the software, including 
detailed instructions on the proper downloading and 
installation of the software, was communicated on 
April 1 in a joint notice from MIIT, the Ministries 
of Education and Finance, and the State Council 
Information Office. 
 
U.S. Industry Concerns 
---------------------- 
 
 
BEIJING 00001520  002 OF 004 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) Multinational computer manufacturers Apple, 
Dell, and HP, and software maker Symantec told USITO 
they did not learn of the Green Dam requirement 
until May 26, little more than one month prior to 
the proposed July 1 implementation date.  HP and 
Dell said they had been in contact with MIIT's 
Software Service Department about the Green Dam 
concept in mid-May, but at that point MIIT suggested 
the program would be voluntary.  The companies said 
they did not receive a copy of the Circular on May 
22, the publication date printed on the document 
itself.  Despite commitments to the United States at 
the SED to publish for comment all policy documents 
affecting economic issues, China has still not 
posted the notice on any government website. 
 
¶5. (SBU) U.S. companies have significant political 
concerns that complying with the Chinese 
requirements to install Green Dam software would 
make them appear complicit with Chinese Government 
censorship.  In addition, with only 30 days to test 
the software and prepare for the implementation of 
the measure, U.S. businesses are worried about 
apparent technical problems.  For example, online 
blog reports and initial compatibility tests by U.S. 
companies report problems, raising concerns about 
who will support users if the software causes their 
computers to crash, for example.  Furthermore, the 
software is not currently available for Apple and 
Linux operating systems.  While the Circular 
announces that the government will "provide free 
usage to all of society" for one year, manufacturers 
are concerned about who will cover the installation 
costs, implementation and customer service costs, 
and licensing fees beyond the first year. 
 
¶6. (SBU) China's proposal to enforce the use of 
filtering software violates technology neutrality 
principles, reduces incentives for commercial 
innovation in the marketplace, and in many cases 
causes redundancies with commercial software already 
offered for sale with many computers.  By 
maintaining a potentially constant connection with 
the Internet to download software updates, the 
software conceivably provides Chinese censors a 
finer tool with which to monitor user behavior and 
block content.  It also creates vulnerabilities in 
the form of a "back door" that could expose 
computers to covert control by third parties, 
malicious attacks, or spying. 
 
Strong Support from Government 
------------------------------ 
 
¶7. (SBU) Based on its meetings with member companies 
and with MIIT, USITO tells us there is great 
political pressure within the Chinese government to 
implement the Green Dam program.  This is attributed 
partly to support for the new software's 
installation by Politburo Standing Committee Member 
Li Changchun, who has authority over the regime's 
propaganda system. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Following is an unofficial translation of 
the MIIT circular prepared by the U.S. Information 
Technology Office: 
 
BEGIN TEXT 
 
Ministry of Industry and Information Technology 
 
BEIJING 00001520  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
Circular 
MIIT Software [2009] No. 226 
 
Notice Concerning the Computer Pre-Installation of 
Green Internet Filter Software 
 
To Relevant Agencies/Companies: 
 
In order to build a green, healthy, and harmonious 
network environment and to avoid unhealthy 
information on the Internet from influencing and 
hurting the youth, the Ministry of Industry and 
Information Technology (MIIT), the Communist Party 
of China Culture and Civilization Office, and the 
Ministry of Finance (MOF), in accordance with the 
relevant requirements of P.R.C Government 
Procurement Law, have applied central finance funds 
to purchase the rights for one year usage and 
related services of the "Green Dam - Escort of the 
Youth Flowers" green Internet filter software 
(hereafter referred as "Green Dam" software) to 
provide free usage to all of society.  Through 
general testing and pilot project application, this 
software product has proven to be able to 
effectively filter unhealthy text and image content 
on the internet, thus this software already 
possesses the conditions necessary to be pre- 
installed by computer manufacturers. 
 
In order to build upon the progress made during the 
implementation of the "Special Campaign to Restore 
the Internet from a State of Vulgarity," persist in 
a combination of "punish and prevent," realistically 
protect the healthy upbringing of underage youth, 
and push forward in the healthy and orderly 
development of the Internet, in accordance with the 
general nation-wide deployment of the "Special 
Campaign to Restore the Internet from a State of 
Vulgarity" , MIIT hereby notifies the specific 
requirements for the computer pre-installation of 
green Internet filtering software as follows: 
 
¶1. All computers produced and sold within Chinese 
territory shall pre-install the latest available 
version of the "Green Dam" software; imported 
computers shall pre-install the latest available 
version of the "Green Dam" software before they are 
sold in China. 
 
¶2. "Green Dam" software shall be pre-installed in 
the computer's hard disk or the DVD included in the 
package.  It shall be installed in the restore 
partition and restore disk of the computer as the 
backup file. 
 
¶3. "Green Dam" software shall adopt active measures 
to support the computer manufacturing companies' 
pre-installation related work. 
 
¶4. Computer manufacturing companies shall complete 
relevant testing work for pre-installing "Green Dam" 
software before the end of June 2009.  Computers 
manufactured or sold after July 1, 2009 shall be 
pre-installed with "Green Dam" software. 
 
¶5. Computer manufacturers and "Green Dam" software 
providers shall report to the Software Service 
Department of MIIT the previous month's computer 
sales volume on a monthly basis throughout 2009.  In 
2010, the annual sales data of the preceding year 
 
BEIJING 00001520  004 OF 004 
 
 
shall be reported no later than the end of February. 
 
For those who do not pre-install after the stated 
deadline, those who submit delayed or falsified 
reports, or those who refuse to report, MIIT will 
order them to take due make-up or correction 
measures. 
 
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology 
May 19, 2009 
 
(Official Chop) 
 
Contact Points: 
 
Green Dam Software Project Team 
Wu Weiwei (010-88559383) 
 
The Software Service Department of the Ministry of 
Industry and Information Technology 
Liao Kai (010-68208172) 
 
The Administration Department of MIIT 
 
Released on May 22nd, 2009 
 
END TEXT 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) We will meet with USITO staff and industry 
representatives on June 8 for their more detailed 
response to the Green Dam mandate.  Multinational 
manufacturers clearly face major technical 
challenges to properly test and deploy software 
within 30 days, a requirement that me be impossible 
to meet.  That notwithstanding, the political 
ramifications of deploying content filtering 
software paid for by the Chinese government are even 
more serious and complex.  USITO's parent companies 
will reportedly seek to brief Washington DC-based 
officials early in the week of June 8.  We will 
continue to report on this matter as it develops. 
End Comment. 
 
PICCUTA