A senior official Friday called for efforts to follow President Hu Jintao's instructions and wage a people's war against pornographic websites, at a national teleconference on the crackdown against porn sites on the Internet.

China will launch a nationwide campaign against porn sites, in order to curb the spread of pornographic activities online and bolster the more regular and orderly development of the country's Internet service, said Zhou Yongkang, member of the Political Bureau and Secretariat of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

Pornographic activities have been rampant online in recent years, and have severely damaged social style, polluted the social environment, and harmed the physical and psychological health of the young people, said the official, who is also a state councilor and minister of public security.

The official pledged to firmly crack down on a number of major criminal cases, severely punish units and individuals that have violated the law, staunchly destroy a number of porn sites, crackdown on a number of online criminal activities like fraud and gambling, and set up a set of long-term and efficient mechanisms that could be used to timely crack down on pornographic activities online.

He urged localities and departments concerned to ensure that the campaign would be a success, through coordinate efforts.

(China Daily July 17, 2004)