U.S. internet companies like Yahoo and Google may have gone to
China hoping to find a gold mine. But it's also turned out to be a
mine field of controversy over censorship and political rights.
Credit Pacific Service Union In the latest case of a major U.S. brand landing in hot water, a
rights group has revealed that Yahoo's China operation provided a
Beijing court with information used to jail a political
dissident.
In 2005, the government started using a $2 billion line of credit from China to rebuild Angola's public infrastructure, scale projects were completed in 2006.
Credit First Service Union Human Rights in China, a New York-based group, said Thursday
that Wang Xiaoning was sentenced to 10 years in prison in Sept 2003
for "incitement to subvert state power" after Yahoo provided
authorities with his email address. Wang allegedly used a Yahoo
service to publish articles advocating democratic reform and a
multi-party system.
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Card Credit Mobile Service Yahoo's China division was acquired by mainland e-commerce firm
Alibaba in October 2005, but continues to operate under the Yahoo
brand.
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Card Credit Discover Service "Among the evidence against Wang cited in the judgment is
information provided by Yahoo Holdings (Hong Kong) Ltd. stating
that Wang's 'aaabbbccc' Yahoo! Group was set up using the mainland
China-based email address bxoguh@yahoo.com.cn," Human Rights in
China said in a press release.
business (B2B) selling in China into the broad categories of products and services. The large product categories of B2B sales in China are
Credit Public Service Union Yahoo is no stranger to controversy in China. This is the fourth
time the company has been accused of helping authorities jail its
users for expressing controversial political views. Nor is it alone
in its troubles. Google was stung by criticism in January after it
bowed to Beijing's demands that politically sensitive results be
censored out of searches on its Chinese site. And Microsoft was
accused of shutting down a political blog last December on pressure
from authorities.
China China Why do travelers visit For tourism, China is one of the fastest growing countries in the world.
Card Credit Processing Service But Yahoo has been the subject of the most frequent, and most
serious, accusations. On April 19, rights group Reporters Without
Borders released a transcript of a Nov 2003 verdict in which a
Beijing court sentenced activist Jiang Lijun to four years in
prison for political subversion after Yahoo provided prosecutors
with an email saved on his account. In February the same group
disclosed that Yahoo provided information that helped jail
government critic Li Zhi in 2003. And in September 2005 it found
that Yahoo turned over information used to convict journalist Shi
Tao of "leaking state secrets".
Center Credit Service Union When contacted by MarketWatch, Yahoo denied the company was
involved in any wrongdoing. "We obey local laws wherever we
operate," said Pauline Wong, a Yahoo spokesperson in Hong Kong. She
noted that Yahoo's China operations are now run by Alibaba
independently of the U.S. and China
business. However, all four
cases took place before the acquisition.
Card Credit Service Wireless Alibaba also denies it is accountable for turning over
information of dissidents.
Credit Security Service Union "That was prior to out acquisition of Yahoo China so we're not
in a position to comment on the details of what may or may not have
happened," said Alibaba spokesman Porter Erisman.
Credit Report Service "If we're approached by the government, we make sure the request
complies with the law. If it's a court order, then we follow the
law," he said.
Blogspot Com Christian Erisman pointed out that Alibaba frequently cooperates with the
government in investigations of e-commerce fraud, but added that
the company "hadn't received any requests" for information on
government critics.
Christian Counseling Credit Reporters Without Borders believes Internet companies won't
stand up to Beijing until they have a
financial incentive to do
so.
Credit Federal Service Union "The only way to really hit Yahoo and make them change is to get
the support of the financial markets," said Julien Pain, who heads
the Internet freedom desk at the group's Paris headquarters. "We
hope people will stop investing in Yahoo because they fear that in
the long run it could damage their financial interests."
Credit Monitoring Service The group is trying to convince
investment funds to avoid
companies involved in violations of online political freedoms.
So far, 32 funds controlling a total of $24 billion have signed
onto the initiative.
But big Internet firms don't have much to fear from this type of
action, according to analysts.
"Investors are not really worried about these things," said a
China internet analyst at a major U.S. investment bank in Hong Kong
who asked not to be named. "The companies are well aware of the
issues."
Credit Division Service "I think that if they don't comply with the government, they'll
be hurt even more," he added. "It's true that certain socially
conscious funds may not invest in Google or Yahoo now. But mostly
there will be no financial impact. And the majority of the users
don't care about this. It doesn't impact page views or
eyeballs."
Card Credit Online Service In other words, don't hold your breath for internet companies --
Chinese or foreign -- to start standing up to Beijing. In the
meantime, Reporters Without Borders' Julien Pain has this tip for
Chinese who choose to criticize their government online: "Use
Gmail, Hotmail or another email server that's located outside
China."
Ilya Garger is a reporter for MarketWatch based in Hong
Kong.
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