Even a censored Internet has opened up a world for Chinese users

Even a circumscribed Chinese Internet has had a liberating effect on many citizens.

That's likely to continue both as a result of popular techniques for circumventing what's known as the Great Firewall of China. The advertising and research firm Ogilvy China estimated last year that 47 million bloggers existed by the end of 2007 and that the number was rising by 25 percent a year. "When traditional media dominated the public opinion arena, Chinese citizens had trouble finding ways to express their ideas or views on various social issues that might involve their own interests," said Hu Yong, an associate professor at Beijing University's School of Journalism and Communication. "But with the advent of the Internet, Chinese netizens found outlets of expression." To be sure, not everyone has been left to enjoy such freedoms. In December, a Chinese judge sentenced the dissident literary critic Liu Xiaobo to 11 years in prison for his writing and for his role in a pro-democracy petition called Charter 08, which sought to rally support for political reform.