Xi justifies the Great Firewall to tech titans

DPA/Los Angeles Chinese President Xi Jinping has defended China’s right to impose its own regulations on the Internet at a meeting with top US technology business leaders at Microsoft’s headquarters near Seattle, according to news reports.Apparently responding to US and Silicon Valley criticism of China’s Internet censorship, Xi told chief executives including Apple’s Tim Cook and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg that countries should align Internet policy “with their national realities”.Chinese censorship of news and social networking sites and demands that foreign Internet companies turn over user information to Chinese authorities have been major sticking points with the US officials and tech executives Xi visited Seattle to court.In remarks to a group of 30 top Internet executives from the US and China near the end of the US-China Internet Industry Forum, Xi underscored the country’s commitment to a secure Internet.“A secure, stable and prosperous cyberspace is of great significance to the world,” he said, and the US and China should work toward that goal together, the Seattle Times reported.The high-level hobnob capped the second day of Xi’s stopover in Seattle, a visit devoted to showcasing China’s business ties with the US.Earlier on Wednesday, Xi toured Boeing’s factory in Everett, Washington, as the US airplane manufacturer announced a series of new deals with China for aircraft orders, a new aircraft completion centre and co-operation on manufacturing and biofuel research.Chinese airlines and leasing companies will buy 250 Boeing 737s and 50 widebody jets, for a total list price $38bn – about $19bn after standard industry discounts, the Seattle Times reported.Boeing also announced it would partner with China’s Commercial Aircraft Corporation to build a 737 aircraft completion centre in China.Earlier on Wednesday, Xi spoke at a morning roundtable with 30 top US and Chinese executives including the heads of Microsoft, Starbucks, Amazon, Alibaba, Tencent and Lenovo about “opportunities to strengthen the US-China business relationship”, the Paulson Institute, which hosted the event, said.Xi put business aside for his final stop of the day, a surprising and nostalgic visit to a high school in nearby Tacoma he visited as a provincial official in 1993.Students presented the Chinese leader with a custom football jersey with his name and a number 1 on the back, and he invited 100 of them to visit China next year, local media reported.Xi has emphasised the importance of “people to people” exchanges in bolstering ties between the US and China.News media reported about 200 protesters gathered outside Lincoln High School ahead of Xi’s visit to demonstrate against China’s ban on the Falun Gong spiritual movement and its maritime territory claims, among a number of other issues.Xi’s agenda in Seattle has emphasised US-China business ties at a time when diplomatic relations between the two superpowers are strained over issues including the Chinese economy, cyber crime and sabre-rattling in the South and East China Sea.The topics are likely to come up when Xi travels to Washington DC for talks with US President Barack Obama.From the US capital, he is due to travel to New York, where he will address the UN General Assembly on Monday.