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China is putting together a 20,000-strong team to create its own version of Wikipedia

By Koh Wanzi - on 3 May 2017, 3:09pm

China is putting together a 20,000-strong team to create its own version of Wikipedia

Image Source: Reuters

Search for something in Google, and chances are the top result is a Wikipedia entry. This crowd-sourced encyclopedia is a veritable trove of knowledge, but online censorship in China means internet users there haven’t been able to avail themselves of its lengthy explainers on the French Revolution and the like.

But in an attempt to plug the gap, the Chinese government is working on creating its own online encyclopedia. Inspiredly referred to as the “Chinese Encyclopedia”, the encyclopedia will see thousands of scholars from state-run universities working on its entries.

According to officials, over 20,000 people have been hired for the project, which is expected to feature around 300,000 entries at roughly 1,000 words each. Unlike Wikipedia, it will not be open to edits from volunteers.

Yang Muzhi, the editor-in-chief of the project, pointedly called it a “Great Wall of culture” that will “guide and lead the public and society”. Ironically, history shows that the actual Great Wall has proved rather ineffectual at keeping invaders out, and there’s little reason to think that this new initiative will be the fortress of government-sanctioned facts that it appears to want to be.

Yang went on to cite Wikipedia as a competitor, and he says that the goal is to surpass Wiki in terms of quality.

“We have the biggest, most high-quality author team in the world,” he said. “Our goal is not to catch up, but overtake.”

The Chinese encyclopedia will focus on promoting China’s scientific and technological developments, historical heritage, and the core values of socialism, so it sounds like it will be far from a neutral source of information.

China isn’t the only country to plan for its own online encyclopedia. In 2014, Russia also announced its intention to create an alternative to Wikipedia, saying that it wanted to provide better information about the country than the latter offered.

The new encyclopedia is expected to be online by 2018.

Source: South China Morning Post

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