Yahoo pleads for Chinese dissidents

Yahoo Inc. has urged Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to help secure the release of Chinese dissidents, including two who were jailed after the Web portal gave authorities information about their online activities. Jerry Yang, the Sunnyvale company’s chief executive, sent a letter to Rice Thursday in what is his latest effort to restore Yahoo’s image following withering criticism by human rights groups about its cooperation with Chinese investigators. The letter called on the U.S. government to pressure Chinese officials, using the Olympic Games in Beijing as leverage. “We know we have an important role to play in advocating for the release of these political dissidents,” Yang wrote. “We are also aware of the limits of private American companies engaging in foreign policy.” (…) Yahoo no longer does business in China, selling its operations there in 2005 to a local company, Alibaba. However, Yahoo owns a major stake in Alibaba and Yang sits on that company’s board. Lucie Morillon, the Washington representative with Reporters Without Borders, a human rights group, said that she appreciates Yang’s concern about political prisoners in China but that he could do more to protect dissidents from being jailed by exercising more control over the company’s Chinese partner. “Asking the U.S. government to do everything to release people – that’s great,” Morillon said. “But why not attack the problem at the beginning?” Image source: sfgate.com. > Continue.

News selected by Covalence | Country: USA, China | Company: Yahoo | Source: San Francisco Chronicle