Yahoo hit with new lawsuits
p2pnet news | Freedom:- Having recently asked the US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice to intercede on its behalf with Chinese authorities with respect to its business dealings, there, Yahoo now finds itself on the wrong end of new lawsuits.
When it asked for help with his business activities, Yahoo also wanted Rice to, "help win the release" of pro-democracy dissidents Shi Tao and Wang Xiaoning"
The two men were each jailed for ten years after Yahoo handed Chinese authorities and records about them.
Now, "Several Chinese men are suing the company and its Hong Kong subsidiary claiming they were harmed because of Yahoo’s cooperation with the Chinese government," says CNET News, going on:
"The lawsuit filed last week in federal court in Oakland, Calif., alleges that Yahoo provided information to the Chinese authorities that led to the 2003 arrest of Li Zhi, who has served about half of an eight-year sentence. However, Li is not named as a plaintiff in the lawsuit.
"Plaintiff Zheng Cunzhu alleges that when the arrest came to light in 2006, he was living in the U.S. at the time and lost his property in China when he did not return for fear of getting arrested for his pro-democracy activities, the lawsuit alleges.
"A second dissident plaintiff, Guo Quan, claims he lost business when his name and that of his garment company were blocked by the Yahoo search results."
The claims cite violation of international law including torture and prolonged detention, as well as unfair business practices, intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment and assault, says the story, adding:
Also See:
business dealings – Help Shi Tao, Wang Xiaoning, Yahoo asks US, February 24, 2008
CNET News – Yahoo sued by Chinese dissidents again, February 27, 2008
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February 28th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
As I have stated again and again, it is stupid for a company to be sues for what its subsidiary did in a foreign country, especially when that company was complying with the local laws.
Laws and rights differ from country to country, and just because your company doesn’t agree with the country’s laws and rights, doesn’t mean that you can just ignore the local authorities (especially when it means that your company can be closed down) .
To top that off, see what has happened?
Consider this, let’s say that an Arab businessman is suing a major US phone company in his local country, for allowing the FBI to (illegally?) tap all of his personal phone calls while he was in the US. In this case, the phone company would say that they were legally obliged to help the FBI, yet the businessman feels that it is a gross intrusion on his privacy. Should the local phone company be held responsible for what its subsidiary did in the US?
While I do not sympathize with China and many of it’s policies of covering its rear end at the expense of the people who live in the country, I do understand that if you plan to do business in China, you must follow their rules, no matter how stupid they may be appear to be. And from my experience with business China, I know that the Chinese government will try anything to gain control of a profitable foreign company, to put it under state rule.
For example, a Chinese friend of mine (American 3rd generation)had a town factory in Shanghai, where after spending over three years to buy land, build a factory, teach the workers, and start making a small profit, had her factory taken over by the government, people and all, for trumped up charged, and was told that if she wanted to continue doing business in China, that she would have to “import” the products from the company that she built.
This was a good friend of mine, and her company was devastated by this, so I am by no means a pro-China sympathizer.
No matter what people say about Yahoo being a government lapdog, with no consideration for human rights, I still say that they were just trying to keep from giving the government an excuse to take them over.
Just my two cents
February 28th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
China has a poor human rights record and unfair trade practices. If the US were smart, we would stop doing business with China, at least on their terms.