Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ok, well, what should we do about China? Also, at what point should we insist that China do what we want to the point of sending in ships, etc.?
I think those are both excellent questions. I'm not sure what we do about it, I don't think anyone is. Google's choice certainly had some flair to it, but probably isn't a general stategy for most relations with China. I'm not sure where that leaves us. Myself, I'm working towards more research that will hopefully make it harder to attack systems, it's a hard area, but I think there's still more we can do. I think th…
There is probably a role for advanced crypto in helping to free information. However be careful that it doesn't get stopped by US export restrictions :) I've had some ideas about low-tech approaches to getting by censors but haven't worked on the project for a bit.
Military response is a much tougher issue. As I pointed out earlier, Americans are raped every day in American prisons. Would we want China sending an aircraft carrier near Los Angeles and demanding that the human rights atrocities stop? Or maybe you believe that such a move (if it resulted in an increased appreciation of prisoner rights) would be a good thing.
I'm enough of a cynic to realize a few things:
- Some people in China have total access to the full internet, even if it's just b/c they have a cousin in the US who downloads the articles, encrypts them, and sends them via email...
- The military angle is all about international power relations. The US sees China as an adversary and it is thus important to make sure that Americans view China as being morally bankrupt, since Americans generally prefer to go to war when they feel that they are on the side of "good".