In September, Yannan.cn, a major forum hosting liberal intellectual writings in China was shut down indefinitely. Now the "Chinese Workers" and the "Communists" have also been closed, says Reuters.

China's censorship policies are infamous and it's helped in its efforts by Microsoft, Yahoo and, of course, Google.

As CNET News' Declan McCullagh wrote recently, "Google's new China search engine not only censors many Web sites that question the Chinese government, but it goes further than similar services from Microsoft and Yahoo by targeting teen pregnancy, homosexuality, dating, beer and jokes."

Google openly admits it's helping Chinese censorship efforts, Yahoo is charged with actually supplying data which helped the Chinese police to jail at least two cyber dissidents and Microsoft pulled Chinese blogger Zhao Jing's MSN online page.

"The Beijing City Internet Propaganda Management Office has ordered us to suspend operation by 9 a.m. on February 22," Chinese Workers and Communists said in brief notices posted Wednesday on their sites, says CNET, going on:

"They are fairly obscure to the general public, but analysts say authorities are wary of their populist commentaries.

"The Chinese Workers sites reports on strikes and protests by workers in moribund state enterprises, once the backbone of China's planned economy but now riddled with problems having laid off millions. The Communists site advocates China's return from today's rampant corruption and yawning wealth gap to its belief in the moral purity and income equality under Chairman Mao Zedong."

Also See:
Reuters - China shuts conservative Web sites amid reform debate, February 23, 2006
CNET News - No booze or jokes for Googlers in China, January 26, 2006
openly admits - Google admits censorship, January 28, 2006
two cyber dissidents - Yahoo: 2nd China 'jail' scandal, February 9, 2006
MSN online page - Microsoft's new China rules, February 1, 2006

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If you're Chinese and you're looking for a way to access independent Internet news sources, try Freegate, the DIT program written to help Chinese citizens circumvent website blocking outside of China.

Download it here and feel free to copy the zip and host it yourself so others can download it.