In a white paper, the Chinese government has said it will continue to block content it deems subversive or a threat to national security. At the end of 2009, there were 384 million internet users, about 29 percent of the population. The government plans to increase this to 45 percent over the coming five years by pushing internet into rural areas, the Associated Press reports. The white paper did not indicate the country's web censorship will be easing. The paper did not specify what kind of content will be banned but said Chinese laws prohibit the spread of pornography, terror, content subverting state power, content undermining national unity, content inciting hatred, and content infringing upon national honour. The paper did not mention Google, which this year ran afoul of the Chinese government when it accused Chinese hackers of trying to hijack Gmail accounts of human rights activists. Google stopped censoring its search results and moved its service to Hong Kong. The paper said anyone within Chinese territory should respect Chinese laws. Separately Google's top lawyer said the company is asking US and European governments to press China to lift internet censorship. David Drummond told reporters that Western countries should defend the free trade in information with the same kind of rules that they use to complain of China's below-cost sale of products. He said government talks are "the only way that it's going to change, that this tide of censorship or this rising censorship is going to be arrested".
