I’ve previously written about Yahoo’s complicity with the Chinese government in the arrest of journalist Shi Tao.
Today’s Washington Post has an editorial on the subject which makes an excellent point about the consequences that this event may have for American foreign policy:
This is not merely an abstract business ethics issue: Yahoo’s behavior in China could have real consequences for U.S. foreign policy. Over the past two decades, many have argued — ourselves included — that despite China’s authoritarian and sometimes openly hostile government, it is nevertheless right to encourage American companies to work there. Their very presence has been thought to make the society more open, if not necessarily more democratic. If that is no longer the case — if, in fact, American companies are helping China become more authoritarian, more hostile and more of an obstacle to U.S. goals of democracy promotion around the world — then it is time to rethink the rules under which they operate.
I hate to say it because I usually disagree with them, but I think the Post may have a point. Do we really want American companies selling the Chinese technology that is being used against their own citizens and, potentially, ourselves ? The common sense answer would seem to be no.
H/T: Instapundit
