Linked by their phones, Chinese take to the streets | CNET News.com

Linked by their phones, Chinese take to the streets | CNET News.com: «BEIJING–The thousands of people who poured onto the streets of China this month for the anti-Japanese protests that shook Asia were bound by nationalist anger but also by a more mundane fact: They are China’s cell phone and computer generation.

For several weeks as the protests grew larger and more unruly, China banned almost all coverage in the state media. It hardly mattered. An underground conversation was raging via e-mail, text message and instant online messaging that inflamed public opinion and served as an organizing tool for protesters.

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China closing the

tech gap?

Country is becoming a

center of innovation,

some experts say.

Another view is that

China is likely to be

stuck as follower.

The underground noise grew so loud that last Friday the Chinese government moved to silence it by banning the use of text messages or e-mail to organize protests.»

Av Morten Skogly

Creator of Things