Misinformation

China certainly control information in ways that Western countries do not. But it is also sometimes the victim of overly negative or inaccurate perceptions. I have the sense, for instance, that many people believe Skype has been blocked in China. It has not. It works. I am also reading Travels of a T-Shirt, one of the best business books published last year which is somewhat illuminating in its statement of the obvious – that trade flows are shifting towards Asia, and manufacturing in the US is dying. But its description of the hukou (residence registration) system in my view gives an inaccurate impression of people movement controls in 21st century China. As anyone knows who has seen railway stations in China or the tens of thousands of private buses travelling around the country, there are effectively no controls any more on where people go or live. Meanwhile, and on the other hand, it is ridiculous that Wikipedia remains blocked on the Mainland.
-information