China compiles its own Wikipedia, but public can’t edit it

SCREENGRAB from Chinese Wikipedia

BEIJING — China is compiling a free online encyclopedia to rival Wikipedia, but it will likely only give Beijing’s official version of sensitive historical events, and the public won’t be able to write or edit it.

Instead, scholars and experts hand-picked by Beijing say only they will be able to make entries — the latest example of the Chinese government’s efforts to control information available on the internet.

The effort to compile 300,000 entries is being led by the ruling Communist Party’s central propaganda department.

Senior editor Jiang Lijun says the online Chinese Encyclopedia will focus primarily on entries that are less likely to change rather than recent events, and subjects that have academic value.

Currently, the Chinese Wikipedia is inaccessible in the mainland.