Radio Free Asia (RFA) recently reported that Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales attended the World Internet Conference held in China not long ago. For the first time he directly brought up the issue of China’s ban on Wikipedia (Chinese Edition) and asked China to lift the ban. However, as an answer, China blocked all languages of Wikipedia for a few days. Apparently the two sides did not reach any agreement. Wales told the press that Wikipedia will never censor any so-called “sensitive” information in exchange for lifting the ban. Wikipedia is not a web site funded commercially. Its operation is based on donations from all over the world. Wikipedia does not carry advertisements in order to ensure neutral content – even if it has a high traffic volume.
China’s “Great Firewall” has been blocking Wikipedia’s Chinese content (and sometimes the English content as well) for many years. Every year around “sensitive dates,” such as June 4, China tightens up the ban on Wikipedia to apply more social control.
Source: Radio Free Asia, December 18, 2015
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/meiti/xl1-12182015101935.html