VZCZCXYZ0012
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKT #0082 0281131
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 281131Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1362
INFO RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 3489
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 7671
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 3022
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 5710

UNCLAS KATHMANDU 000082 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/INS, PM/CBM, PM/PRO 
 
STATE FOR SCA/PPD, PA/RRU 
 
E.O. 12958 N/A 
TAGS: KMDR KPAO PGOV OPRC NP
SUBJ: MEDIA REACTION: FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND 
INTERNET DIPLOMACY 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY: Nepal's popular vernacular daily 
Nagarik (circulation: 30,000) on Thursday, January 
28, ran an opinion piece "Internet Diplomacy" by 
freelance writer Purna Basnet.  Basnet states that 
freedom of expression on the internet has now become 
an American foreign policy goal. 
 
¶2.  TRANSLATED EXCERPTS: "... Just as Google issued 
notice about its closure in China, China-based 
internet company Baidu stated that its search engine 
had been attacked. This terror of cyber crime has 
affected every internet user in China but nobody 
knows the facts. ... U.S. Secretary of State Hillary 
Clinton compared China's resistance to Google's 
search results to a "new-age Berlin Wall" and urged 
Beijing for a probe into attacks against Google. She 
also states that it is now a diplomatic issue since 
China issued a statement that the U.S. policy to 
support Google could jeopardize relations between 
the two nations. 
¶3.  "... America tried to garner support among 
Chinese internet users and the American embassy in 
Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou brought together 
Chinese bloggers, critics and supporters to discuss 
Secretary Clinton's statements. These debates 
demonstrate that Washington wants to make this a 
diplomatic issue. But Beijing is irate that America 
is trying to impose its own internet policy riding 
on Google's back." 
 
¶4.  "... China is the largest internet-using country 
in the world and Google's second-largest market 
after the United States.  More than 60 percent of 
Chinese internet users use Baidu as a search engine. 
While Google is struggling to compete with Baidu in 
China, there are also suspicions that Google will 
discard the huge market that lies in China." 
 
¶5.   "... The issue of Google no longer remains a 
business matter. Many view this as a new form of 
political differences between Beijing and 
Washington. ... This has now become a high-level 
issue of freedom of expression over the internet. 
This conflict between two powerful countries has 
given a new dimension to the debate of freedom of 
expression, which is likely to create a new cyber 
war." 
 
ORDWAY