The Chinese want to know why their news is on Twitter and they aren't
A visitor at an Internet cafe in Beijing surfs the web. Greg Baker/AP
The Communist Party's official Twitter account has caused outrage among Chinese citizens stuck behind the country's Firewall.
Chinese internet users are a little miffed today after the learning that the Communist Party's official news service has its own Twitter account, even though Twitter is supposed to be banned in China. The Xinhua News Agency has been posting on Twitter (@XHNews) since March 1, but the vast majority of Chinese citizens had no idea until today, because they aren't allowed to be on Twitter themselves. A report inYunnan Info Daily finally clued them in, sending China's actual microblogging service, Sina Weibo, into a frenzy of outrage.
Users there are not unaware of the irony, posting comments like “I am going to report this to the police: Xinhua is obviously breaching our internet laws" and "Xinhua has proved itself a traitor who has chosen an evil path," which shows they are also aware of sarcasm. Almost all other social networking sites like Facebook and YouTube are locked away behind the "Great Firewall of China," forcing Chinese citizens to be more creative in their internet usage.
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