China Censors Anti-U.S. Reaction

China's censors have moved to stem anti-American statements andexpressions of support for terrorism against the United States thathave been posted on government-monitored Internet sites here sinceTuesday's attacks in New York and Washington, Chinese sources saidtoday.

The Propaganda Ministry issued an "urgent notice" late Wednesdayordering the media, including Internet portals, not to publishanything that gloated about the attack or seemed to insult the UnitedStates, the sources said.

The move seemed designed to demonstrate official support for theUnited States and its declared war against terrorism after a seriesof official reactions to the Washington and New York attacks thatwere interpreted by diplomats as tentative.

"It is not clear whether the Chinese really understood theenormity of what happened in the beginning," said a Western diplomat."They also have their own domestic constraints about being perceivedas too pro-American. But things are improving now."

Chinese scholars who had expressed dismay at what they termed thecallous reaction of some Chinese to the tragedy unfolding in theUnited States said some of the most offensive statements had beenremoved from the Internet. "It's improved a lot," said Shi Yinhong,head of the international relations department at People'sUniversity. "The debate on those sites has become pretty civilizedagain."

A government official, meanwhile, contested reports that Chinathis week signed a memorandum of understanding on economic andtechnical cooperation with the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan. Theofficial said he had contacted the Foreign Trade and EconomicCooperation Ministry and a central state-owned mining firm and hadbeen told that neither organization had signed any such agreement.

A Pakistani newspaper, the Frontier Post, and a state-runnewspaper in Afghanistan reported Tuesday that an agreement had beensigned between China and the Taliban minister of mines. Diplomats andanalysts said the agreement was significant because it underscoredattempts by China to strengthen ties to the Taliban.