(UPDATE) Investing in China: earning profits, losing principles!

…how odious and hypocritical it was that American corporations that exploited democratic freedoms to make their names and untold fortunes are now collaborating with a totalitarian regime to deny people in the most populous country on earth similar human freedoms….

It came as no surprise therefore when international media watchdog Reporters Without Borders reported last week that Yahoo had helped the Chinese government entrap and sentence Chinese journalist Shi Tao to 10 years in prison (a.k.a. the Ministry of Love) for the crime of daring to use his email account to:

…post on the Internet a government order barring Chinese media from marking the 15th anniversary of the brutal crackdown on democracy activists in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

I was exceedingly glad therefore when it was reported this week that Shi’s mother has decided to sue Yahoo. Specifically, that she has joined a growing class-action suit that was originally filed in April by the World Organization for Human Rights USA against Yahoo on behalf of Yu Ling, the wife of Wang Xiazoning. Because like Shi, Wang – an acclaimed Chinese dissident who was sentenced in September 2003 on the dubious charge of “incitement to subvert state power“ – was also imprisoned (and allegedly tortured) by the Chinese government after Yahoo provided private information about his Internet activities.

Of course, before entering the Chinese market, Yahoo and other technology companies (like Google and Microsoft) were perfectly aware that investing in China required them to check their western principles at the border. And they not only struck this Faustian bargain willingly, but also seem determined to honor it – as long as it is commercially viable to do so.

Therefore, I hope this lawsuit succeeds in pricking Yahoo’s corporate conscience in ways that political and moral appeals have not. In fact, I am convinced that only when juries award plaintiffs billions in damages – similar to the awards that finally forced tobacco companies to quit their unconscionable practice of spiking cigarettes to induce nicotine addiction and guarantee streams of profit – will these technology companies find it too prohibitive to continue serving as special agents in China’s thought-control police force.

Meanwhile, in an ironic twist, Yahoo itself voiced dismay this week that its Chinese spymaster is blocking the commercial use of Flickr.com – its very popular photo-sharing site. And, despite pro-forma denials, everyone knows that China shutdown the site because die-hard Chinese freedom fighters were using it to commemorate the anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre in June 1989, which the Chinese government wants to white-wash from the minds of all Chinese citizens.

NOTE: I’m still waiting for Microsoft to honor the vow it made last year to stop doing business not only in China, but in all countries that thrive on human rights abuses….

Related Articles:
Yahoo! becomes China’s most favored thought police
Google founders admit spying for China was a mistake…duh
Microsoft vows to leave China to save its soul…