US Presses China Over Internet Filtering

BEIJING (AP) — Washington has expressed concern to Beijing over its new effort to censor Internet use and its possible impact on trade and access to information, the U.S. Embassy said Monday.

The U.S. pressure comes as Chinese Web surfers are lobbying the communist government to scrap its plan to require the Internet-filtering Green Dam Youth Escort software on personal computers. It is to be pre-installed or included on a compact disc with all PCs sold in China starting July 1.

American diplomats met Friday with officials of China's ministries of commerce and information technology to express concern and seek more information about the system, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said. ...