The Chinese Cyber-Padlock

choi

Paragraph 1 is missing in the second URL.


Maura Elizabeth Cunningham, The Chinese Cyber-Padlock; The Communist Party censors the internet because of the web's ability to bring large groups of people together for collective action. Wall Street Journal, Mar 13, 2019
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the ... padlock-11552245606
https://outline.com/A7eXcZ
(book review on James Griffiths; The Great Firewall of China; How to build and control an alternative version of the internet. Zed, 2015)

Quote:

paragraphs 1 1/2: "In March 2000, President Bill Clinton delivered a speech at Johns Hopkins University in which he urged Americans to favor increased engagement with the People's Republic of China. Speaking in support of China's accession to the World Trade Organization, Mr Clinton waxed optimistically about the country's potential for change as it enjoyed the fruits of participation in the US-led liberal democratic order. Though he acknowledged the continued repression of free speech and human rights under the Chinese Communist Party, Mr Clinton waved off these concerns, pointing to, among other things, the power of the still-developing internet. 'Now there's no question China has been trying to crack down on the internet. Good luck!' he joked. 'That's sort of trying to nail Jell-O to the wall.'  The techno-optimism of early 2000s held that no single government could control an online landscape that lacked borders. In the past decade, however, Mr. Clinton’s speech has become a prime example of the exuberant but blind faith of those who thought that China could change even as the Communist Party remained in charge. Instead, Communist leaders steered China as it joined the WTO and other multilateral institutions, while at the same time cracking down on political activism, religious practice, and expressions of dissent. Ever-increasing internet monitoring and censorship has been a core element of this tightening.

"What many fail to understand, Mr. Griffiths argues, is that Chinese officials censor the internet not simply to maintain a monopoly over information but, rather, out of fear of any platform with the potential to bring people together for collective-action purposes. Curbing the growth of large, organized networks is, for the ruling party, crucial to maintaining social stability and political control.

My comment:
(a) The review is locked behind paywall. There is no need to read the rest, though, with which we are familiar.
(b) In my 34 years in United States, this is the first time I see and adverb following verb wax. And I think this use is wrong.
(i) wax: "(intransitive, with adjective) to increasingly assume the specified characteristic, become. <to wax lyrical> <to wax eloquent> <to wax wode>"
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wax

wax wode
https://www.wordsense.eu/wax_wode/
https://www.yourdictionary.com/wax-wode
(ii) wax (vi): "to assume a (specified) characteristic, quality, or state : BECOME  <wax indignant> < wax poetic>"
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wax
(iii) wax (vi): "[with complement] begin to speak or write about something in the specified manner
<She waxes amusing about the trials of boys wanting to play like girls and even brings along her hubby, Ben.>
<Despite constant pressure from New York City media and fans longing for an NBA championship after a 30-year drought, Thomas [this is Isiah Thomas born in 1961, not Isaiah Thomas born in 1989 (given name spelled differently, too)] waxes positive on his team and his position.>
<I was waxing nostalgic to a friend about the old British Library Reading Room.>"  (brackets original).
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/wax

complement (linguistics)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complement_(linguistics)
(section 1 Predicative, subject and object complements)

The English adjective nominal (from Latin noun neuter nomen name) is the adjective form of name or noun.