The Aegean Sea website, commonly known as Aiqinhai
and based in
Hangzhou
Hangzhou, , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly romanized as Hangchow is a sub-provincial city in East China and the capital of Zhejiang province. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counti ...
, China, was an ideological and humanistic
website
A website (also written as a web site) is any web page whose content is identified by a common domain name and is published on at least one web server. Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, such as news, educatio ...
that preached
freedom
Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws".
In one definition, something is "free" i ...
and
democracy
Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...
. The website was founded on May 20, 2001 by
Zhang Jianhong, who also served as its
editor-in-chief
An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...
, and with
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
Bei Dao
Bei Dao (, born August 2, 1949) is the pen name of the Chinese-American writer Zhao Zhenkai (). Among the most acclaimed Chinese-language poets of his generation, he is often regarded as a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. In addition ...
as general advisor, and was closed on March 9, 2006.
Aegean Sea boasted itself as "The Last Clean Paradise of Chinese Literatures".
Shutdown
On March 9, 2006, Aegean Sea was shut down by the Zhejiang authorities
for allegedly publishing news in violation of Internet regulations.
References
{{Reflist
Defunct websites
Internet censorship
Internet properties established in 2001
Internet properties disestablished in 2006