By John Leyden for The Register. This
article has been reproduced with permission.
A senior European Union official has taken hi-tech firms to task
for helping China suppress dissent. In an internet
posting about corporate responsibility, EC vice president
Margot Wallström criticised net giants such as Microsoft, Google
and Yahoo! for being too willing to bend ethical guidelines where
potential profits in new markets are at stake.
Wallström criticised Microsoft for blocking Chinese blog entries
that use words such as "democracy", "freedom" and "human rights".
She censured Google for blocking access to sites that the Chinese
government finds objectionable. But she saved her sharpest
criticism for Yahoo! for handing over the name of a journalist who
had sent an email criticising the Chinese government. Based on this
information, Shi Tao received a ten-year prison sentence in
September over allegations that he had divulged state secrets, a
decision roundly condemned by human rights organisations such as
Reporters Without Borders at the time.
"Words like ethics and corporate social responsibility seems to
be deleted from their corporate code of conducts – or they have
flexible ethical standards depending on where they operate,"
Wallström said, adding that she intended to campaign on the issue
in the hopes of encouraging hi-tech firms to adopt a consistent
moral stance.
"I hope that these companies one day will understand that to
endorse democracy and corporate responsibility is a prerequisite
for 'smart' growth. From now on, this issue is also on my political
agenda," she added.
Wallström rejected arguments from firms that they have to
operate according to the laws and customs of overseas countries in
which they trade. However respondents to her posting claimed that
EU countries often sold weapons to China so its political
representatives were in no position to take the moral high ground.
Since 1989, the EU has had an embargo on arms sales to China.
