International business helping China to block democracy worldwide

By Tererai Karimakwenda
25 January 2006

The Chinese business boom is attracting all sorts of customers these days with its glittering offer of a huge market and cheap products, and although businesses worldwide are aware that it all comes at the expense of certain democratic and basic human principles, they are choosing profit instead. The latest willing participant in this global “profit over democracy” race is Google, which on Wednesday launched the latest version of its popular search engine in China, after agreeing to self-censor some content. Google’s argument was that at least the Chinese would have greater access to other kinds of information. But what information is worth having if you cannot use it to practice basic rights such as freedom of speech?

Sadly Google is not the first business giant to compromise its principles.
Internet giants Yahoo and Microsoft’s MSN.com have also made deals that cater to Chinese censorship. China’s influence has grown beyond its borders, with the government receiving huge construction and agricultural contracts from poor African countries known for violating human rights. Zimbabwe is a prime example. Cheap Chinese products, that fall apart, have flooded the market and Chinese companies have built stadiums and palaces and taken over huge tracts of agricultural land in deals made with the Mugabe regime. In exchange, China has blocked the United Nations Security Council from passing resolutions censoring Zimbabwe for human rights abuses. Experts concluded the jamming equipment used to block SW Radio Africa’s shortwave signals in Zimbabwe were also of Chinese origin. Again democracy was the price paid for doing business with China.

The Chinese government does not want information that is critical of its policies, or about its opponents or internal struggles to be readily available to its people. Google’s agreement to self censor means any search for words like “democracy” and “human rights” directs you to Chinese government sites or those that avoid dealing with the subjects.
The international media watchdog Reporters Without Borders immediately criticised Google’s decision. One of their director’s, Leonard Vincent, told us doing business with China is like becoming China. He said you cannot ignore them and many companies believe you need to be in China to survive. But Vincent warned that this is a dangerous game, because doing business this way gives China impunity on the world stage.