china Stephanie Nebehay Reuters March 7, 2013 at 3:52 PM ET Reuters file People use computers at an Internet cafe in Changzhi, north China’s Shanxi province on June 20, 2007. GENEVA — China and Russia are buying increasingly powerful surveillance technologies to intercept communications and try to take control of the Internet, a senior U.S. official said on Thursday.

Two Chinese men use their laptop computers at a cafe in Beijing on November 2, 2012. A number of countries are aggressively trying to control the Internet, a top US diplomat cautioned Thursday, insisting Washington would give no ground when it comes to curbing freedoms on the Web.A number of countries are aggressively trying to control the Internet, a top US diplomat cautioned Thursday, insisting Washington would give no ground when it comes to curbing freedoms on the Web.”Many Middle Eastern countries, Russia, China and others are I believe going to take an increasingly aggressive stand to try to control the Internet,” Alec Ross, the State Department’s outgoing senior adviser on innovation, told reporters in Geneva.