Wikipedia brings Wikimania conference to HK in 2013
Popular encyclopedia looks to clinch more Asian support at Wikimania, but admits low prospects for mainland due to censorship
The creators of Wikipedia are looking to expand their Asian network of contributors through the annual Wikimania conference, which takes place in Hong Kong next year. But the mainland remains a low priority because of internet censorship.
Asaf Bartov, an official from Wikimedia Foundation, which runs the free online encyclopedia, said that while he expected Chinese Wikipedia to grow substantially over the next few years, the group was focusing on "easier" places such as India.
Beijing banned Wikipedia in 2005 and again in 2007 after its founder refused to comply with censorship of politically sensitive entries.
"We're happy the ban was lifted [in 2008]," Bartov said in a recent trip to Hong Kong to promote Wikimania. "Some pages are [still] blocked, but I have to stress that it's not blocked by us."
Wikipedia's Chinese version, the 11th largest portal, with 510,000 articles, is mostly edited in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Bartov estimates around 50,000 edits are made in Hong Kong, compared to just 40,000 edits on the mainland.
"There's difficulty getting organised [on the mainland] because meetings are still strictly controlled by the Communist Party," said Jeromy-Yu Chan, president of Wikimedia's Hong Kong chapter, which has around 40 active, university-age members and some 200 contributors.