China nabs 5,400 people for online porn in 2009.
Chinese authorities caught nearly 5,400 suspects last year in a crackdown on online pornography and have vowed to strengthen Internet policing.
Beijing's pervasive policing of cyberspace and attempts to block the Internet are already among the world's most stringent. In a statement late Thursday, the Ministry of Public Security said the "purification of the Internet" and fighting of online crime are closely tied to the country's stability.
"Lewd and pornographic content seriously pollutes the online environment, depraves social morals and poisons the physical and psychological health of the masses of young people," the statement said. "It must be firmly controlled."
The ministry said nearly 9,000 pornographic Web sites have been deleted from the Internet and 5,394 suspects captured in 2009, although it did not say how many of them were formally arrested or charged.
