Internet viewed as vehicle for uniting Chinese around world

Technologically savvy Chinese scattered all across the globe have a vision of reuniting their people - this time over the Internet.

Despite the mainland government's hesitation to embrace the medium and the difficulty of rendering Chinese characters on computers, there has been a surge of interest among overseas Chinese in establishing the Internet as the informational linchpin to Chinese news and culture.

A Chinese Internet conference at the Spring Internet World Trade Show in Los Angeles recently attracted hundreds of participants.

'The Internet seems to be, if it is used widely, the perfect medium for opening up a new dimension of how people and businesses in China interact with people and businesses in the United States and the world,' Zhang Xiaobo, president of MTS Corp, which maps Chinese cities and businesses for the Internet, said.

One of the biggest obstacles, though, is technology. Methods of efficiently inputting, rendering and searching for Chinese characters are still in the early stage.

Perhaps the greatest obstacle, however, is the Beijing government. Most of the Chinese Internet Web sites have been built by Asian Americans and other overseas Chinese, but the majority of Chinese people live in mainland China, where there are ongoing efforts to control networks, access and content.