[Mb-civic] Logging Off On China

[ean at sbcglobal.net]

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/02/22/logging_off_on_china.ph
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Logging Off On China
Robert B. Reich
February 22, 2006

 Robert Reich is professor of public policy at the Richard and Rhoda 
Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, 
Berkeley. He was secretary of labor in the Clinton administration.

The Republican chairman of the House subcommittee on human rights 
calls it a “sickening collaboration.” A leading Democrat says it’s a 
“disgrace,” and asks how the companies’ chief executives can sleep at 
night.

They’re talking about American internet companies who are helping 
the Chinese government suppress free speech in China: Cisco 
Systems selling networking equipment to the Chinese police to 
maintain censorship controls; Microsoft, taking down blogs the 
Chinese government doesn’t like; Google, filtering out web sites the 
government wants blocked, with words in them like “democracy” and 
“human rights;” and worst of all, Yahoo turning over data leading to the 
arrest and imprisonment of Chinese dissidents who thought they were 
using anonymous Yahoo email accounts.

Should we fault these companies? Of course. We can blame them all 
we want. But so what? They’re still going to do whatever the Chinese 
government demands of them because the stakes are too high and the 
money is too good.

China is the second-largest Internet market in the world after the 
United States. More than 100 million Chinese have already logged on. 
At the rate Internet usage is growing there, within a few years there will 
be more Chinese on the Internet than Americans. Talk about a market.

American companies are in business to maximize profits. We may 
want them to be socially responsible but they’re answerable to their 
shareholders. If they don’t do well by their shareholders, their 
executives will find themselves out of jobs. How do they maximize 
profits and lift share prices? Increasingly, one answer is to sell to the 
Chinese.

Congress engages in holier-than-thou public condemnation of these 
Internet companies. It holds hearings to humiliate company 
representatives appearing before it. Members of Congress appear on 
television and wag their index fingers in rage. It’s all designed to look 
as if Congress is taking action on behalf of Chinese human rights. In 
reality, this media circus gets Congress off the hook. It reassures the 
public that something is being done, when in fact nothing is.

If the U.S. government wants to make Chinese human rights a priority, 
it could pass a law tomorrow prohibiting American companies from 
helping the Chinese government trample on the free speech of its 
citizens. Such a law wouldn’t hurt the competitiveness of these 
companies because they’re preeminent in the world. If China wants to 
be part of the Internet age it has no choice but to allow in Cisco, 
Microsoft, Google, Yahoo and other American firms ­ who could then 
tell the Chinese government they’re required by American law to 
respect the free speech of Chinese citizens. Otherwise, no deal.

Besides, given the pressures on these companies to maximize profits, 
this sort of law is the only way to stop Cisco, Microsoft, Google and 
Yahoo from being enablers. And it’s the only way to get the attention of 
the Chinese authorities.

But don’t hold your breath. Despite all the self-righteous indignation 
emanating from Congress, the fact is human rights in China are not at 
the top of America’s China agenda. First and foremost, American 
policymakers need China’s central bank to continue to send us almost 
a billion dollars a day to make up for our budget deficit and low rate of 
personal savings. Second, they need China’s help dealing with hot 
spots like North Korea. And American business wants free access to 
China’s huge market, without interference.

The State Department just announced a task force on American 
Internet companies collaborating with China in repressing free speech. 
A “task force” is another way of appearing to do something in 
Washington while actually sending the issue back into the circular file.

Are the Chinese people still better off for Cisco, Microsoft, Google and 
Yahoo being there than not? Yes. But they’d be even better off if they 
could speak their minds.

Yet when it comes to China, free speech is not the most important 
thing on America’s mind.

This commentary originally appeared on Marketplace, public radio's 
only daily business news program, and is reprinted via a special 
arrangement between TomPaine.com and Robert Reich. Marketplace 
is produced by Minnesota Public Radio and is heard on 322 public 
radio stations nationwide. More online at www.marketplace.org
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"A war of aggression is the supreme international crime." -- Robert Jackson,
 former U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice and Nuremberg prosecutor

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