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Xi Defends China's Great Firewall in Push for `Cybersovereignty'

  • Chinese president says each country should police own Internet
  • Speech at technology summit seeks to promote Web model abroad
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President Xi Jinping defended China’s strict control of websites, saying it was necessary to keep public order, and urged nations to respect each other’s sovereignty over the Internet.

Countries must not interfere in the internal affairs of others, Xi told a technology gathering Wednesday in Wuzhen, adapting a concept that has long been part of the Chinese Communist Party’s foreign policy. Cyberspace must not become a “battlefield” between states, Xi said, and he called for greater cooperation on punishing cyber-attacks and fighting terrorism.