World Internet Conference

The World Internet Conference (WIC, simplified Chinese: 世界互联网大会; traditional Chinese: 世界互聯網大會; pinyin: Shìjiè Hùliánwǎng Dàhuì), also known as the Wuzhen Summit (乌镇峰会; 烏鎮峰會; Wūzhèn Fēnghuì), is an annual event, first held in 2014, organized by the Chinese government to discuss global Internet issues and policies.[1] It is organized by the Cyberspace Administration of China.[2]

World Internet Conference
世界互联网大会
StatusActive
Location(s)Wuzhen, Zhejiang
CountryChina
InauguratedNovember 19, 2014 (2014-11-19)
Organized byCyberspace Administration of China
Provincial government of Zhejiang
Websitewicwuzhen.cn (Chinese)
wuzhenwic.org (English)
World Internet Conference
Simplified Chinese世界互联网大会
Traditional Chinese世界互聯網大會
Wuzhen Summit
Simplified Chinese乌镇峰会
Traditional Chinese烏鎮峰會

Wuzhen Declaration

At the first World Internet Conference in 2014, an unknown party distributed a draft joint statement affirming the right of individual nations to develop, use, and govern the Internet, a concept Chinese Communist Party (CCP) general secretary and paramount leader Xi Jinping calls cyber sovereignty.[3] Attendees received a draft of the statement overnight, slid under their hotel doors. As some objected to the statement, the organizers made no mention of it in the conference's final day.[4]

Summits

2nd World Internet Conference

The second World Internet Conference in 2015 was attended by notable figures including co-founder of Alibaba Group Jack Ma, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and the prime ministers of Pakistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.[5] Xi promoted his concept of "Internet sovereignty", urging the world to "respect each country's Internet sovereignty, respect each country's right to choose their own development path and management model of the internet". Xi's speech was praised by Ma.[5] The official Chinese media commented that Xi Jinping's speech showed China was bullish on Internet growth and China would build a "Digital Silk Road for Win-Win Cooperation-Information Infrastructure Partnership".[6] The second World Internet Conference releases the Wuzhen Initiative, which calls on all countries to promote Internet development, foster cultural diversity in cyber space, share the fruits of Internet development, ensure peace and security in cyber space, and improve global Internet governance.[7] However, the event was criticized by Amnesty International, which called on technology companies to boycott the conference.[5] Amnesty International urged tech firms to reject China's position, calling it an attempt to promote censorship (on fake news).[8]

In December 2015, Fadi Chehadé announced that, after he leaves his post as ICANN CEO in March 2016, he will become co-chair of a newly formed advisory committee to the World Internet Conference. The first meeting of the committee will take place in mid 2016.[9]

4th World Internet Conference

In December 2017, the 4th annual conference was held in China. Apple Inc.'s Tim Cook and Google's Sundar Pichai made their first appearances at Wuzhen Summit.[10] A Qualcomm director gave a keynote speech about advances of 5g and AI.[11] Bob Kahn, known as one of the fathers of the Internet, addresses the opening ceremony.

5th World Internet Conference

In November 2018, Xinhua's World first artificial intelligence (AI) anchor makes debut at the 5th annual conference that opens in China.[12]

6th World Internet Conference

The 6th edition of the World Internet Conference was held on October 20–21, 2019, with the theme of "Joining Hands in Constructing a Community of Shared Future in Cyberspace" (携手构建网络空间命运共同体).[13]

Responses

Lack of open access

The 2015 World Internet Conference organizers denied entry to reporters for certain U.S. media outlets, such as The New York Times.[1][14] In response, Reporters Without Borders called for a boycott of the 2015 World Internet Conference.[15]

See also

References
  1. Makinen, Julie; Yang, Yingzhi; Li, Alexandra (2015-12-15). "'Freedom requires strict order': China preps for second World Internet Conference". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2015-12-16.
  2. Bandurski, David (July 14, 2022). "Taking China's Global Cyber Body to Task". China Media Project. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
  3. "Xi Jinping calls for 'cyber sovereignty' at internet conference". BBC. 2015-12-15. Retrieved 2015-12-16.
  4. "China Delivers Midnight Internet Declaration — Offline". China Real Time Report. 2014-11-21. Retrieved 2015-12-16.
  5. Zeng, Vivienne (18 December 2015). "Albaba's Jack Ma sings praises of Xi's global vision of 'internet management'". Hong Kong Free Press.
  6. "Xi's speech: Reactions from the ground". China Daily. 2015-12-17. Retrieved 2015-12-17.
  7. Zhu, Shenshen (29 December 2015). "Wuzhen initiative on Internet future". Hong Kong Free Press.
  8. Griffiths, James (2015-12-16). "Chinese President Xi Jinping: Hands off our Internet". CNN. Retrieved 2015-12-16.
  9. Chehadé, Fadi (23 December 2015). "My Transition from ICANN CEO, an Update". ICANN Blog. ICANN. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  10. Horwitz, Josh (4 December 2017). "Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai's surprise remarks at China's "open Internet" conference". qz.com. Quartz. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
  11. "孟樸：5G将引领信息传播的未来-新华网". Archived from the original on December 6, 2017.
  12. Handley, Lucy (2018-11-09). "The 'world's first' A.I. news anchor has gone live in China". CNBC. Retrieved 2019-01-28.
  13. "携手构建网络空间命运共同体 (Joining hands in constructing a community of shared future in cyberspace)". Official Website of the World Internet Conference (Chinese). WIC organizing committee. 2019-10-16.
  14. Zeng, Vivienne (2015-12-15). "Not shared by all? China blocks New York Times from World Internet Conference". Hong Kong Free Press. Retrieved 2015-12-16.
  15. Carsten, Paul (2015-12-16). "China calls for Internet front to fight hacking, cyber 'arms race'". Reuters. Retrieved 2015-12-16.
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