Gates defends China's internet restrictions

Found on Times Online on Friday, 27 January 2006
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Bill Gates, the billionaire founder of Microsoft, took the rare step of standing up for arch-rival Google today as he argued that state censorship was no reason for technology companies not to do business in China.

The richest man in the world told delegates at the World Economic Forum in Davos that he thought the internet "is contributing to Chinese political engagement" as "access to the outside world is preventing more censorship".

This week, Google created controversy when it entered the Chinese market on Beijing's terms. Writing on Times Online today, Irene Khan, the secretary-general of Amnesty International, said that Google had "reinforced the trend in the IT industry of kowtowing to Chinese demands of censorship".

She said: "Last year, Yahoo provided the Chinese with details leading to the arrest and sentencing of a journalist; Microsoft has barred a blog critical of the government and launched a portal blocking the use of words such as 'freedom' and 'democracy'. Now Google has weeded out websites that China does not like."

Business is where money is. It is way easier to tolerate something when you have the chance to make a lot of money. That's why censorship in China isn't a problem for Google, MS and Yahoo; instead, they make it even sound like they actually help freedom by censoring. Now back in 1961, when Cuba nationalized some US companies, the US started an embargo which is still in place (remember that the US supported Fidel's revolution). Then they tried to invade Cuba, what almost caused another world war (reasons were plans like Operation Mongoose and Operation Northwood). Communism here, communism there. But in one case the money left the US, while it now comes in. There's also another minor difference: Cuba's reforms were about land and money, but in China, people are arrested and even killed for breaking censorship and having an unwanted opinion.