A leading Chinese critic of the Communist party and an international press freedom group have denounced US portal Yahoo for allegedly assisting Beijing authorities to track down and prosecute a dissident three years ago.
Political critic Liu Xiaobo and Reporters Without Borders said the case of jailed dissident Li Zhi showed that Yahoo had helped China suppress dissent even before its widely publicised role in the prosecution of an outspoken journalist last year.
The allegations, which are based on copies of a defence statement by Mr Li’s lawyers that has been posted on reformist websites overseas, will fuel already fierce debate about the activities of international internet companies in China.
“This shows that as early as 2003, Yahoo was already cooperating closely with the Chinese Communist police,” Mr Liu wrote in an essay condemning the US portal’s conduct.
A committee of the US Congress is to hold a hearing on the ethical responsibilities of companies doing business in China and is expected to grill Yahoo, Google and Microsoft over their cooperation with Beijing authorities and internet censors.
Bowing to Beijing - Companies agreeing to censorship
Google has drawn criticism from users for actively censoring its China-based search service to avoid upsetting Beijing. Microsoft already bars discussion of sensitive topics - and even the use of words such as freedom and democracy - from parts of its MSN site in China.
Yahoo has drawn particularly heavy fire for its role in helping authorities track down Shi Tao, an outspoken journalist and user of its email service who was jailed for 10 years last April for revealing information about a Communist party media crackdown.
Yahoo has said it assisted the action against Mr Shi, as part of a “legal process”. However, the portal has not explained the legality of its apparent decision to provide information to Chinese authorities from its Hong Kong operations, which are not subject to mainland law.
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Similar questions are likely to surround Yahoo’s conduct in the case against Mr Li, who was jailed for eight years in 2003 for trying to join the banned China Democracy Party and for publishing internet essays criticising official corruption.
According to the defence statement published on reformist websites, information used in Mr Li’s prosecution was provided by Yahoo Hong Kong.
Reporters Without Borders said Yahoo should make public how many Chinese dissidents it had given police information about.
“The firm says it simply responds to requests from the authorities for data without ever knowing what it will be used for. But this argument no longer holds water,” the group said.
“Yahoo certainly knew it was helping to arrest political dissidents and journalists, not just ordinary criminals,” it said.
Chinese dissidents say internet companies’ willingness to provide information to the authorities makes it much harder to safely email or post online politically sensitive opinions.
Yahoo last year transferred control of its Chinese operations to a local company that has made clear it intends to work closely with judicial authorities whenever asked.
