China abandons blog identity plan
Jin Ni BBC News, Beijing
Wednesday, 23 May 2007

China blocks news websites like the BBC'sThe Chinese government is backing down from plans to force millions of Chinese bloggers to register their real names.

There are an estimated 20 million bloggers in the country and the plans announced last year provoked huge protest from Chinese internet users.

At the time, the government said it thought the system would make bloggers more responsible for their behaviour.

But Chinese bloggers condemned the proposal as an attempt by the government to control information. the rest