Chinese ‘Internet adventurer’ backs Amnesty campaign to help free web;

GATESHEAD e-entrepreneur Ling Valentine (33 ‘female, Chinese, human being’) has joined up with Chris Martin, Bob Geldof, Martha Lane-Fox and Archbishop Desmond Tutu to back a campaign by Amnesty International to help end repression on the Internet.

The ‘Irrepressible’ campaign recognises the internet as a new frontier in the struggle for human right and demands that governments stop censoring websites, blocking emails and persecuting bloggers. North East-based businesses and car-sales companies that trade on the internet are being urged by Ling Valentine to join the campaign that aims to tackle oppressive regimes in countries like Iran, Vietnam, North Korea and China.

Over 20,000 people have so far pledged their support to the campaign and Chinese-born Ling, boss of LINGsCARS.com is hoping other North East businesses do the same: “I have long campaigned for freedom on the internet. After all, this is where my business is based. I am a cyberspace adventurer. Earlier this year I pulled all my advertising from Google in protest at their censorship of their Chinese search engine. It is important that other North East businesses with an online presence fight to open up their services to the rest of the world and help protect people in countries where human rights are ignored.”

Ling joined the campaign after reading about Shi Tao, a Chinese journalist sentenced to ten years hard labour for using the web to reveal that his country’s newspapers were being restricted in their coverage of the anniversary of the democracy protests in Tiananmen Square. Information from Yahoo was used as evidence for his conviction.