Google, the Internet Giant decided to take on China this week. Speculation is that Google was put up to it by Washington. Human rights advocates are cheering on Google. Ex-pat Chinese dissidents are cheering on Google. Some of the Chinese are cheering on Google. Beijing, however, is controlling the game.
Google’s first complaint was that some e-mail accounts purportedly owned or used by internal and external dissidents were hacked into. That is a valid complaint and should be properly investigated.
If the hacking was done by individuals, then most certainly all applicable laws should be utilized to punish those responsible. If the hacking was done by, or at the bequest of Beijing, that raises other issues.
The US has an array of laws that allow, and disallow the government to snoop on both Americans and foreigners – all in the name of “national security.” We know that America does it, regardless of what the laws are – typically after the fact, and only after great pressure is brought on the government to confess its misdeeds. What we do not know about are all the details about the “hidden espionage” and “hidden national security” fronts that the US utilizes to gain information about its own, and other people. It happens. Everyone knows it happens. The problem is that nothing can be proven conclusively.
If you are a liberal, shame on America for doing those things. If you are a conservative, then ‘good on America’ for doing this because after all, national security trumps individual privacy and rights. We know this because 58% of the American public supports in torture to obtain information about terrorism and anti-American activities.
Beijing does things as quietly as Washington tries to do things. There is the possibility that Beijing has either engaged in the hacking of accounts or allowed / instructed others to do so. Like America, they engage in such activities for “national security.” For Washington to criticize Beijing for doing that is hypocritical. Why should Beijing be held to a higher standard than what Washington holds itself to?
“Ah” – the American patriots will cry. “The security of China is not being threatened by dissidents. They are, these dissidents, attempting to bring democracy to China. They are promoting human rights. They are attempting to bring freedom to the Chinese people. This is about Democracy and damn it, Beijing has no right to suppress the voice – the cries for freedom of the people.”
In the immortal words of Col. Sherman Potter, M*A*S*H, “bull hockey.”
The dissidents living in and outside of China are all dedicated to bringing down the Chinese government. Today, they are unable to do it with suicide bombers; they only have their words and writings But, there is always the possibility that some may become extremely radical and resort to other tactics – or encourage other radical elements in and outside the country to do so. Beijing is within its rights to be concerned and vigilant. Unfortunately, and this is something that the West – and in particular Washington – needs to hear loud and clear: The vast majority of the Chinese people do not support or share the same visions that the internal and external dissidents have.
More and more people are now voicing their opinion and beliefs that democracy and all the freedoms the dissidents advocate for, would not be in the best interests of the country or the Chinese people. These opinions are coming not only from those within the country, but also Chinese Americans who have come to live and work in China. In short, and this is not to be disrespectful of the Chinese people, they cannot handle the freedoms or the democracy concepts. These things are totally contrary to Chinese culture and tradition.
In retaliation for the hack attacks – regardless of who is responsible for them, Google has threatened to stop censoring its Chinese based search engine results. Yahoo has foolishly offered its veiled support to Google. Washington of course is throwing its full support behind Google citing the President’s opposition to censorship of the Internet. And yes, there are some Chinese bloggers and residents of Beijing who are voicing their support for Google as well.
With respect to the Chinese bloggers and citizens support of Google, this should not be interpreted to mean anything specific. Humans, like cats, are curious. If they are told that they cannot or should not see something, they will want to see it. This is human nature. What must be remembered is that curiosity killed the cat.
Once we get past the idealistic babble and chatter about the so called evils of censorship, everyone will admit that there are many things in life that should be censored. Most adults have the ability to self censor things. However, there are countless – and here in China, millions of people – who do not have the ability to “self censor.”
There is a plethora of information on the Internet that is not really fit for consumption by the masses. Society does not “need” pornography. The world does not need a soap box for radicals and those focused on destruction of others as is found on the Internet. The world does not need freely available information on how to create weapons of mass destruction. The Internet is full of this type of information, and much other societal damaging information. These types of information only encourage the less stable – both mentally and emotionally – to do things that can harm society and the world.
Other governments attempt to discredit or stifle information that is critical of them. Beijing is faced with a different problem in this arena. There is a plethora of information that is extremely critical of Beijing which is simply not true; blatantly false. This information is compiled and published by people who want to bring down the Chinese government. This information is antithetical to what is best for the Chinese people. Beijing knows this. Beijing has the responsibility of what is doing what it feels is best for 1.3 billion people. This is a much more complex task than worrying about only 310 million people such as in America.
Washington, with its numerous think tanks and experts no doubt is well aware of the fact that the concepts of democracy and freedoms are contrary to Chinese culture and traditions. The culture and traditions have created sub-societies that are totally dependent on each other, and not individualism. Washington knows that introducing individualism to China would bring the country to its knees. This Washington has been attempting to do in subtle ways for time immortal – bring China to its knees.
As China grows in all aspects, Washington is very worried about the rise of China. It feels threatened that China will displace it as the world leader. Now that Beijing has stood up to Washington, the perceived threat is even greater. China, a country that Washington has condemned and criticized has proven its theories wrong. Washington wants to save face – desperately.
In an effort to attempt to discredit China, it is more than feasible that Washington put Google up to this latest charade as it attempts to reassert its position in Asia. China, no longer the “Paper Tiger” it has been perceived to be by Washington simply told Google that if it wishes to conduct business in the country it must obey all laws. Plain, simple and to the point. It sends Google, and Washington, the clear and concise message that China does not need Google.
In this game, in diplomat speak, Beijing holds the home court advantage. The rules favor both Beijing and the Chinese people. There is not much that Google or Washington can do to salvage their position in this game.
Tags: America, Beijing, China, dissidents, Google, human rights, terrorists, Washington, Yahoo
This is the second of a series about China and human rights. The Old Codger lives in China simply as an ex-pat. As an educator he has access to Chinese people and is able to view the sociological aspects of Chinese culture and tradition. While he tries to pass himself off as just a Lao Wai (old foreigner) many Chinese consider him to be “almost” Chinese.