The rumors are true!   Youtube access has indeed been shut down in China.   I got a comment on one of my own youtube videos a couple of days ago and I was unable to go see the comment.   I thought to myself, “That’s funny; I thought youtube wasn’t blocked.”   Other big ones, like wikipedia, I’m aware of.   I didn’t think of piecing it together then because I was heading off to work where I had open access to the Internet.   Many businesses in China, as you may know, have no web restrictions.   China doesn’t want to stop that fantastic economic growth.   A day or two later, Robert, told me that China had shut down internet access due to video showing crackdowns of the Tibetan protests appeared on youtube.com.

It’s interesting asking Chinese folks what they think about this.   The most extreme answer I’ve gotten is, “Some of those Tibetans are troublemakers.”   More common ones are:   “They shouldn’t try to win independence this way”, “<with an I don’t care tone> I don’t know why they’re doing this.”   Hard to say if this is the result of the spin of China’s media.   If it is, I think it’s only a small part.   When I tell Chinese people about American views of Tibet, and I’m sure to mention the “Free Tibet” bumper stickers, they usually either laugh or give me a confused “Why?” look.   Though I can’t clearly explain, I tell them how we have our media spin too (from the AP):

TONGREN, China – When riot police with bulletproof shields lined up outside the monastery in this Qinghai province city on Sunday, scared residents ducked indoors and wary businesses shut down…

Having been near some of the trouble spots just recently, the bias I read in tone of this opening line feels magnified.