In the Chinese Internet community, there is a famous saying by Hu Qiheng: "The Internet did not come into China on an eight-carriage sedan chair, but came in through a narrow path."
1987 On September 20, 2011, when China's first email was sent from the packet switching network, many countries and regions around the world had joined the international Internet. But China faces political obstacles to joining. The United States refuses to open the Internet to China, citing security concerns.
In April 1994, through the efforts of scholars and experts, China was officially connected to the international Internet. Hu Qiheng, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is one of those who made the effort.
Since then, China has entered the Internet era. Hu Qiheng also has an indissoluble bond with the Internet.
Hu Qiheng, Chairman of the Internet Society, at the 2006 Internet Charity Day Conference
Hu Qiheng said that she first came into contact with the Internet in the early 1980s. At that time, Hu Qiheng had the opportunity to work in the United States for two years. Before returning to China, a friend asked her: What is your deepest impression of the United States? Hu Qiheng said that there are three things she envies most. One is that the United States has a developed highway network and the transportation is very convenient; the second is that the United States has vast space and is not so crowded; the third is their computer network. At that time, computers in the United States already had a very developed network, but it had not yet developed to the scale that is commonly used around the world today. And Hu Qiheng has keenly felt that it is a powerful resource and a development trend.
"In 1994, our Academy of Sciences will report to the State Council, requesting the State Council to approve us to join the Internet on behalf of China. At that time, the Internet was already very large in the world, and there were already a lot of resources on the Internet. Everyone needs this resource , it is no longer just for the needs of computer communication. Not many people in society knew about this matter at the time, but the science and technology and education circles were very clear about it, and the country immediately approved it and actively supported us. Do this." However, domestic telecommunications policy became one of the obstacles. The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications at that time did not adapt to the policy of multiple users sharing channels, "because the first step of the Internet was to rely on telephone lines for transmission. We had to ask the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications for help and rent a dedicated telephone line with them. At that time, there were some conflicts with their regulations. When we rented international channels to transmit Internet information from the United States to China, they required that, It can only be used by the Academy of Sciences, not Tsinghua University and Peking University. If Beihang University is also included, it will be even worse. In their opinion, if multiple people use it, it will be a 'speculation' of the phone line, and then they will have to double the charge. At that time, our technology community was relatively poor, so we were very afraid that they would double the charges. We tried every means to convince them and explained to them that this network is for everyone to use. If it cannot be used by everyone, it is not a network. It is There is no way to reflect its functions and advantages."
Hu Qiheng said that at that time he really explained to them the advantages of the Internet: the biggest feature and advantage of the Internet is the unlimited sharing of resources. This website is not a commercial website and does not make any profit. It is just professors and researchers doing scientific research and education. The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications finally understood and finally supported them, and the original clamor for "double charges" was no longer counted. Hu Qiheng said that maybe it was because we were "not making a profit" that impressed them. To this day, Hu Qiheng’s voice is heard in every step and every event in the development of China’s Internet. Just like a while ago, some domestic and foreign companies and institutions promoted and promoted their own Chinese domain name systems in the country without the approval of China's domain name authority, causing serious chaos to China's domain name management. As an expert, Hu Qiheng said: Our top priority is to get our Chinese domain name trial system to achieve good results as soon as possible and gain its due status in the world. We do not want to manage the Chinese domain name .COM around the world. We just want the Chinese domain names in the four regions across the Taiwan Strait to develop in an orderly manner under a unified management system.
Hu Qiheng said that she is already an old person, but she always emphasizes: "My working style is still very fashionable!" This is true, she works online every day Browse news from around the world on the Internet and communicate with friends around the world via e-mail. She likes cats very much. On her computer, she has a photo album of her cats, pictures of cats in various forms, which is really annoying.
Hu Qiheng said that a cat’s life is very simple and its requirements are also very simple. As long as it is fed and has a safe place to sleep, it is satisfied. When it feels uncomfortable, it will hide in a corner and not let you see it, but when you see it, it is always happy.
Hu Qiheng demonstrated to me the cat story she compiled with dubbing:
One day, the cat was patrolling the house, looking here and smelling there, and suddenly discovered that something was wrong in the kitchen. So it quickly climbed up the gas pipe in the kitchen, and found a water stain on the ceiling close to the pipe.
“Oops!” it shouted, “the water pipes are leaking, why don’t you repair them!”
Looking at Hu Qiheng’s happy smiling face, I suddenly understood, It turns out that youth in life can not be measured by age. In 1978, as a relatively young scientist at the time, Hu Qiheng participated in the first higher-level scientific investigation mission sent by China to the United States. The one-month trip to the United States opened her eyes, especially the development of information technology in the United States. Shortly after returning to China, she received the director of the Computer Science Department of the US Natural Science Foundation, a Chinese scientist, at the Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Then, at the invitation of the Chinese-American scientist, she went to his computer laboratory in the United States as a visiting research professor. During his two years working in the United States, Hu Qiheng keenly felt that computer networking is a powerful resource and a development trend.
In 1986, Hu Qiheng led the establishment of China's first National Key Laboratory of Pattern Recognition at the Institute of Automation, establishing a platform for continuing to carry out this important research direction.
During this period of time, something that made Hu Qiheng feel more proud was the successful development of the postal sorting machine. This is the most successful project between the Institute of Automation and the General Post Office. Hu Qiheng said, "China has a large population, and the volume of postal sorting letters is extremely large. There are many, many sorters, and they can't do it. The volume is too big! The postal department has considered if the machine can be used to recognize the handwriting on the letters. If you can automatically sort characters, or postal codes, it will be a revolution in postal work! They came to our Institute of Automation."
After hard work, Hu Qiheng and others designed the system. Postal sorting machines that recognize handwritten characters have advanced recognition rates and other performance. This actually became the initial prototype of the domestic postal sorting machine that was put into production by the postal and telecommunications department a few years later. The use of automatic mail sorting has greatly accelerated the speed of letter transmission, improved the efficiency of people's communications, and achieved "a revolution in postal work." Hu Qiheng said that the two years he spent working and living in the United States in the early 1980s deeply touched me. In the United States, scientific research is not conducted in an "ivory tower". Their high-tech achievements are transformed quickly, and the process from research to product production is very short. This is due to their scientific researchers directly establishing high-tech companies. At that time, I was just an ordinary researcher at the Institute of Automation, but when I came back from my visit to the United States, I immediately wrote a proposal to the Academy of Sciences, suggesting that the Academy should encourage scientific researchers to establish high-tech companies.
Hu Qiheng’s suggestion was supported by the leaders of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Since 1983, Hu Qiheng has served as the director of the Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, deputy secretary-general and director of the Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and secretary-general of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In 1988, he became the vice president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. That period was an important stage for the Chinese Academy of Sciences to promote institutional reform. Under the leadership of the Party Committee of the Academy, Hu Qiheng firmly explores and practices the path of scientific and technological system reform. Hu Qiheng said with emotion: "I started dreaming about this high-tech company at that time. Later, a successful company like Lenovo emerged, and I am really proud of them."
Speaking of Hu Qiheng, President of Lenovo Group Liu Chuanzhi was filled with gratitude: "There is one thing that she may not even remember.
She was the secretary-general of the Academy of Sciences at the time, and she was in charge of high-tech enterprises. Lenovo was still a small company at the time, and it encountered a work-related problem that it couldn't solve. That day Qiheng was having a meeting in the house, and I was waiting outside. When she hurried out during a break in the meeting, I stopped her immediately and told her the difficulties she encountered. She listened very seriously and only said "I understand" after listening. I thought she was going to express her position or something, but no, she turned around and left. Unexpectedly, the matter was resolved the next day. ”
Hu Qiheng said: I really can’t remember that such a great Liu Chuanzhi had such a difficult time. At that time, we had a very strong belief that our science and technology must serve our country. We should have this ability, and our scientific and technological personnel are no worse than those in the United States. However, if the country does not reform and open up, and there are no institutional changes, the efforts of scientific and technological personnel alone, and the efforts of Liu Chuanzhi alone, will not be enough. The entire general environment has changed, and the market economy framework and system have been established in China. Only Lenovo, Sanhuan, Tsinghua Unigroup, Tongfang, etc. can stand out.
There is an old saying in China: "A drop of water is a blessing." , when the spring springs repay the favor. "Liu Chuanzhi was grateful for Hu Qiheng's support for Lenovo, and often hoped to have the opportunity to repay the favor, but Hu Qiheng was "invulnerable." Hu Qiheng said: "Seeing Liu Chuanzhi and his company grow stronger and our national strength become stronger, I feel the happiest. He has done Lenovo so well and has brought glory to our country, which I feel is very good. " As early as 1992, Hu Qiheng, then Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was in charge of the NCFC project jointly developed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tsinghua University and Peking University. The project was loaned by the World Bank and the National Planning Commission was responsible for the bidding. The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tsinghua University and Peking University were responsible for the bidding. The Chinese Academy of Sciences won the bid. As the vice president in charge of the project, Hu Qiheng's task was to take the lead in organizing and implementing the project. After the three units were connected, the scientists and professors said: "We need to. internet! "This idea has received strong support from the National Planning Commission, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Natural Science Foundation of China. However, the United States has used security issues to prevent China from opening the Internet, especially in the backbone network, it does not allow China to enter, and the gate is closed.
Hu Qiheng recalled: “At that time, scientists such as Professor Qian Hualin of the Academy of Sciences were doing work on various occasions, and many foreign scientists, including American scientists, also actively called for it. In 1994, our Academy of Sciences reported to the State Council, requesting the State Council to approve us to join the Internet on behalf of China. At that time, the Internet was very large internationally, and there were already a lot of resources online. Our deputy prime ministers were very far-sighted and approved it immediately and actively supported us in doing this. With the authorization of the state, I took advantage of the opportunity to attend a meeting of the China-U.S. Mixed Committee on Science and Technology in the United States to negotiate with the chairman of the National Science Foundation of the United States. After arguing hard, he finally agreed to connect China's Internet to the U.S. backbone network. Soon, Qian Hualin called and said that the call had been put through. ”
On April 20, 1994, at the Computer Network Information Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China achieved full-function connection with the international Internet and became the 77th member of the international Internet family. In this way, China It has brought huge resources, especially the latest developments in global Internet development, and has greatly promoted the development of China's scientific research.
During the interview, the reporter heard more about Hu Qiheng. This is a story I told my foreign friends for the first time.
In 1995, a 13-year-old Chinese rural girl named Yang Xiaoxia suffered from a strange disease. First, there was a black spot on her finger, which became larger and larger. The pain got worse, so the local doctor thought it was an infection, so he did some cleaning and it was over. However, after returning home, the black spots continued to expand, and the entire hand was rotten, so he had to amputate the other hand four months later. It fell off, so he was sent to Beijing for treatment. After several months, all antibiotics failed, and all the doctors were helpless. So the Academy of Sciences sent a message to the world through the Internet titled "Call for Help from China."
Soon there were responses from all over the world. It was initially determined that it was thallium poisoning. The doctor immediately understood the problem and prescribed the right medicine. Although Yang Xiaoxia lost her hands, her life was saved. Without the Internet, Yang Xiaoxia would definitely be dead.
When Hu Qiheng and some domestic experts and scholars participated in international conferences and activities, they deeply felt that the Internet is a very important international stage. Its scope is even larger than that of the United Nations, which only has more than 190 member states. , and the international Internet extends to 246 countries and regions; the United Nations is unlikely to affect a country's politics and economy, while the international Internet can affect a country's politics, economy, military, culture and social life. "The Internet is indeed a A stage bigger than the United Nations."
There should be a Chinese voice in the Internet world. Around 2000, Hu Qiheng, then vice chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology, contacted several academicians of the Academy of Engineering to jointly provide suggestions to the China Association for Science and Technology. Therefore, the China Association for Science and Technology and the Ministry of Information Industry jointly initiated the initiative, and more than 70 companies responded. In May 2001, the China Internet Association was established, and Hu Qiheng was elected as the chairman of the association. After the establishment of this association, it became a bridge and link between the government and the Internet industry. Now the association has more than 300 members.