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Opinion

Humanity shouldn't have price tag

Hasan Rizvi
Opinion Columnist

In December 2003, Li Zhi was sentenced to eight years in a Chinese jail for posting comments on the Internet that were critical of corrupt local officials. Unfortunately, this is to be expected in China, where human rights are not respected. However, should we expect American corporations to assist the Chinese government in the imprisonment of people for posting "subversive" messages on the Internet? 

The answer, apparently, is yes. Yahoo's Chinese subsidiary provided information to Chinese authorities that assisted them in identifying Li Zhi as the author of the critical messages. This is not an isolated incident. Journalist Shi Tao was sentenced to 10 years in prison for divulging internal documents of the ruling communist party relating to the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre to foreign Web sites. 

Yahoo played an integral part in identifying Shi Tao, who had used a Yahoo e-mail account to send the "treasonous" messages. Yahoo is not the only culprit in undermining freedom of speech on the Internet in China. Google and Microsoft's MSN also cooperate with the censoring attempts by the Chinese government. 

According to the group Reporters without Borders, 49 dissidents and 32 journalists have been arrested and imprisoned for posting comments and stories critical of the Chinese government and its officials. On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives' subcommittee on human rights will convene to discuss this matter with officials from Microsoft, Yahoo, Google and Cisco Systems. These tech firms for the most part have remained adamant about criticism of their dealings with China. They usually give a line like, "It's better to be in China with restrictions than not in China at all," or, "We must abide to the laws of the land that we do business in." 

It might sound nice but don't be mistaken: The real reason companies like Yahoo act as an informant to the Chinese Public Security Bureau is simply money. China is only behind the United States in number of Internet users and it will undoubtedly surpass the United States eventually. It's a huge market with an even more prodigious market potential that tech companies cannot resist exploiting, even if it is often under dubious circumstances. Google's motto, "Don't be Evil," should be modified to, "Don't be Evil unless billions of dollars are at stake." 

We all know the main objective of a corporation is to take advantage of every opportunity to maximize profit. However, a Milton Friedman approach to this problem is not the wisest way to confront this problem. Since we know these companies won't act against their own self-interests, legislation is needed that prohibits U.S. companies from becoming a partner with China's Gestapo policies. 

Slavery was more cost effective than using hired farmhands; however, since it was morally reprehensible, it was abolished. When it comes to human rights and other issues of utmost importance, the almighty dollar shouldn't always be our utmost concern.

Rizvi, an opinion columnist for The Daily Cougar, 
can be reached at hrizvi@uh.edu.