Subject: Re: Request for community guidance on issue concerning afuture mee ting of the IETF

From: "Soininen, Jonne (NSN - FI/Espoo)" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 20 Sep 2009 16:19:31 +0300

Hi,

I think Steve has captured the core of the issue in this mail. I think his reasoning is the exact reason why we should go to Beijing with a positive attitude and have a great meetin in Beijing!

Cheers,

Jonne.

--- original message ---
From: "ext Steve Crocker" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Request for community guidance on issue concerning afuture meeting of the IETF
Date: 19th September 2009
Time: 10:56:24 pm

The choice is between engaging and not engaging.  Engaging is better.   
Not engaging isn't constructive.  The Internet and the IETF are all  
about engaging, expanding, communicating and being open.  Much of this  
dialog has been worried about possible extreme situations.  Let's  
focus on the center.  More than a billion people live in China and  
their use of the Internet is expanding rapidly.  They are building  
much of the technology and contributing technically.  It's to  
everyone's advantage to have comfortable, constructive interaction.   
Our first slogan was "Networks Bring People Together."

If you prefer to focus on the negatives, here's my analysis:

If we don't go to China, we have charted a downhill course and the  
rest of the world will come together without us.  The IETF will lose  
relevance.

If we do go to China and something bad happens, the consequences will  
be much worse for China than for the IETF.  The work of the IETF will  
suffer a bit, but we'll recover quickly enough.  However, China's  
quest for engagement with the rest of the world will be hurt more  
seriously.

Bottom line: We should go to China with a positive attitude.  We're  
robust enough to deal with any consequences.  If we don't go to China,  
however, we have weakened ourselves.

Steve

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---

From: Tim Chown <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 20 Sep 2009 17:50:06 +0100

> I think Steve has captured the core of the issue in this mail. I think his reasoning is the exact reason why we should go to Beijing with a positive attitude and have a great meetin in Beijing!

Exactly.

I have been to an APAN meeting in Xian.   It was superbly organised, the
hosts and everyone we met were very friendly.   The discussions were very
good, some of which were about differences in technology adoption and
development between Europe and China, for example.  I'd have no hesitation
to return for another event any time.

Over the years I have personally found that every country I visit expands
my understanding and knowledge.   People who don't travel perhaps tend
to remain more insular.   Taking the IETF to China has to be a good thing.

BTW getting a visa for China as a UK citizen was very easy, just a simple
visit to the London embassy and a 2-hour turnaround on the paperwork.
Entering China, at Beijing, was also very painless, perhaps in part due
to the investments for the Olympics.

Tim