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不过，新华社2006年颁布的规定还禁止路透社和彭博等向非媒体客户销售金融信息的机构直接发展中国客户，实际上是要求这些外国机构必须经过新华社的分支机构。

欧盟(EU)和美国拟就中国试图将外国新闻提供商的金融信息业务置于其中国竞争对手及监管者新华社(Xinhua)控制之下一事，向世界贸易组织(WTO)提起正式申诉。

不过，新华社并未对外国机构的金融新闻业务采取行动，尽管它们拒绝遵守上述规定，并且一直在未领取有效业务执照的情况下运营。由于预计新华社社长田聪明不久将离职，它们对于中国方面做出让步的希望有所增强。

The most interesting thesis is the idea that China could use international law as a weapon, or “lawfare” for short. The authors argue that citizens of democracies increasingly demand that their countries uphold international rules, particularly ones that govern human rights and the conduct of war. Governments are, therefore, constrained by regional or worldwide organizations, such as the European Union, ASEAN, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the WTO and the United Nations. The authors argue that China should copy the European model of using international law to pin down the USA: “there are far-sighted big powers which have clearly already begun to borrow the power of supra-national, multinational, and non-state players to redouble and expand their own influence.” They think that China could turn the United Nations and regional organizations into an amplifier of the Chinese worldview – discouraging the USA from using its might in campaigns like the Iraq War.

Beijing has been willing to allow the Organization of Islamic States to take the lead in weakening the new Human Rights Council. This subtle diplomacy has been devastatingly effective – contributing to a massive fall in US influence: in 1995 the USA won 50.6 percent of the votes in the United Nations general assembly; by 2006, the figure had fallen to just 23.6 percent. On human rights, the results are even more dramatic: China’s win-rate has rocketed from 43 percent to 82 percent, while the USA’s has tumbled from 57 per cent to 22 percent. The New York Times’ UN correspondent James Traub has detected a paradigm shift in the United Nations’ operations: “it’s a truism that the Security Council can function only insofar as the United States lets it. The adage may soon be applied to China as well.” Traub may be right. China’s capacity to influence the United Nations is increasing, and soon we may be complaining about Chinese behavior on big policy issues

When China joined the WTO, there was also an implicit attempt to use “opening-up” to accelerate “reform.” The saying “there is no way back for an arrow when the string is drawn” is particularly true today when the world is filled with goods “made in China.” It is impossible to allow the free flow of commodities but not information when China takes part in the division of labor in globalization. It is equally impossible to allow the free flow of only the “positive” information. There is no such bargain under heaven. The information age has descended upon us. New media like the Internet and cell phones are still developing rapidly. It will cost more and more to control the dissemination of news and will eventually become impossible.

As I said, I'm all for information transparency and uncensored internet access. However a lasting progress in political reform comes from inside of a country, not from external pressure. Many Americans seem to believe in the external pressure they place on other countries; this might be a main cause of the problems with the US foreign policy. Looking at history – Americans have been in numerous countries trying to impose an order through external influence, how successful has this been?

Peter Scheer's effort to have WTO sanctions imposed based on Beijing's internet censorship, and the hearings that will be held tomorrow in Washington DC.