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Internet Outsider talks about the doing-business-in-China issue:
A month or so ago, when Google was publicly damned (again) for the same apparent sin, I asked the same question Terry [Semel of Yahoo] asked: What is the alternative? I would be grateful if a reader can provide a cogent, thoughtful response to this question, one that goes beyond "Just say 'no.'" Because, in this case, "Just say 'no'" is beyond idealistic--it's vapid.
Surely the argument is not that companies that want to operate in China should disobey Chinese laws (given that this would result in their immediately being expelled from China). So the argument must be that operating in China under current Chinese laws is immoral and, therefore, simply not an acceptable option. I don't agree with this--the First Amendment is a U.S. invention, not a higher moral law, and China's leaders aren't the first in history to attack people who criticize them--but I'd be eager to hear a good argument about why it is, in fact, immoral. And I'd also like to hear a response to Terry's (true) observation that life in China is a heck of a lot better than it used to be, that sometimes the best way to improve a system is to work with it, and that more information will always be better than less. Many of the comments are good too, but put on your asbestos goggles before reading.
posted by James DeLong @ 11:38 AM | International
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