Yahoo has settled in a long-running case brought by the wife of Chinese dissident, Wang Xiaoning.
Wang wound up in a Chinese prison for circulating pro-democracy blogs after Yahoo handed over personal information to the Beijing authorities.
Chinese journalist Shi Tao met the same fate after he alerted human rights groups to government attempts to censor news reports.
He let it be known that the powers that be put pressure on editors and journalists to suppress reports of the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square 'incident'.
Yahoo handed Shi's details over to the government on request. Both men are currently in Chinese prisons serving 10 year sentences.
Not surprisingly, this case has received zero coverage in the press here in China. There are a few references in the blogosphere but the vast majority of Chinese people have no idea that this is making headlines across the world.
Quite rightly, much of the attention in the West is focussed on the fact that Yahoo aided and abetted a violation of free speech.
It's none too surprising that China takes a hard line when it comes to suppressing democracy and dissent.
The shocking thing is that a company from the 'free world' will bend over in the name of profit.
Maybe we shouldn't be so shocked. Capitalist companies are amoral.
It's a mistake to think that companies from the US or Europe have western values. They have whatever values the local market wants them to have.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/11/13/yahoo.china/index.html
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