My Attitude: Regarding the Microsoft Incident and Potential Legislation by the U.S. Congress

The following was posted on "Anti's Blog" on Jan. 14, 2006, by Zhao Jing:

Today American media called me, and said members of the U.S. Congress were going to propose legislation to punish companies that cooperate with the Chinese government like Yahoo, Microsoft and others. They asked for my opinion. I am issuing a statement here to explain my position.

Regarding Microsoft shutting my blog, I have repeatedly expressed my views to the media. 1) This kind of behavior by Microsoft violated my freedom of speech, and I protest it. 2) Microsoft deleted my entire blog without any warning, without giving me any chance to back it up. This kind of nasty attitude toward a user destroyed the trust I once had in Microsoft. 3) I reserve the right to take future actions against Microsoft.

Afterwards, Microsoft unexpectedly explained that it did it to comply with local laws. This in effect tossed those of us writers who had our Spaces deleted because we discussed the Beijing News incident into the predicament of "criminal suspects" publishing illegal speech. Compromising under pressure is one mistake, and unjustly framing the victims to cover-up that compromise adds another.

Chinese people cannot punish Microsoft for these actions; this is the Chinese people's disgrace. We still lack the means to protect our freedom of speech in China. This is the deepest reason why our generation must continue to be diligent. These accounts will be settled one day. As long as I am alive, I have said before, unjust actions like those of Yahoo and Microsoft will be punished. Don't depend on luck, hoping that everyone will forget. The future costs of basic education in China will likely be drawn from the reparations paid by these large corporations. In the days of making money, please consider the future. We can live, and not lose our ideals. We believe in history, that the god of justice will take care of China, and will grant rehabilitation to the aggrieved and the justice to the victimzed.

As to how members of the U.S. Congress want to legislate, this is entirely the American people's affair. I do not believe the freedom of speech of Chinese people can be protected by the U.S. Congress. If the freedom of speech of the citizens of a great nation needs the protection of another nation's legislature, this kind of idea itself shows us how far that nation is from the greatness we hope for. The closure of my blog and my persistent defense of freedom of speech cannot automatically be seen as endorsement of related legislation by the U.S. Congress.

To put it more clearly, what we need is legislation from the Chinese congress. What we need is Chinese people passing laws to protect the freedom of speech of Chinese people. It is not possible today, but it will be tomorrow. This is the only dream and glory we live for.

A country is great because it still has a group of people unwilling to give up the ideals of the nation, and willing to lay foundations, make sacrifices and devote themselves to it. Today, we study Washington politics, New York economics and California culture because we have a firm hope for our own people -- someday our children living in Nanjing, Beijing, Hong Kong and Taipei will enjoy lives of freedom, democracy, prosperity and peace. We Chinese ourselves must struggle for all of this, because only we can fully understand our joys and sorrows.

Upholding justice in American courts does not mean that justice has been upheld in the hearts of the Chinese. Whether Yahoo and Microsoft are punished in American courts, this really isn't something we can worry about. What we need to worry about is how much of the Chinese people's own rights can we Chinese people protect, or better yet, how much can we reduce violations of these rights? Another Internet user put it well: The shame is, in fact, our own.

Furthermore, at a time when politics and globalization are mixed together, I do not believe that any black-and-white, simple solution can truly increase the rights of the Chinese people. On the one hand, Microsoft hinders the freedom of speech of Chinese people by shutting down blogs, but on the other, MSN Spaces this year has really expanded the ability and desire of Chinese people to speak through blogs, and MSN Messenger has also influenced the way information is transmitted over the Internet. These are both concrete effects of capital seeking markets. How Americans judge this issue, and how they sanction it, is really a question for Americans themselves. But I myself believe that if companies that compromise are completely blocked from the Chinese market, Chinese Internet users will not, at least over the short term, enjoy more freedom as a result. Additionally, we must distinguish between Yahoo's sell-out and Microsoft's compromise. These are two completely different issues.

We live in an extremely complicated situation. It is just like the problem of whether economic sanctions can improve democratic conditions in a country. In the '90s, China and Iraq both provided evidence to the contrary. This embarrassment and confusion is really the disgrace of our own people, unworthy of attention from outsiders. Here, I can only quietly repeat to friends our dream that one day, across the great land of China, justice will roll out like a flood, and righteousness like flow smoothly like a river. Sounds like this are small, but it is firm as stone in our hearts.