VZCZCXRO1471
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH
DE RUEHBJ #0135/01 0190831
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 190831Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7657
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RHMFIUU/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 000135
DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EAP/CM, EAP/PA, EAP/PD, C
HQ PACOM FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR (J007)
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL ECON SENV KGHG KMDR OPRC CH
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: GOOGLE, HAITI
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Editorial Quotes
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1. GOOGLE
a. "Don't be against the Chinese people's opinion"
The official Communist Party international news publication Global
Times (Huanqiu Shibao)(01/18)(pg 14): "A poll conducted by the
Global Times website revealed that only 20% of netizens support
Google's action, while more than 40% don't welcome it. The poll
result shows that the majority of the Chinese people hope the
Internet can be more open, but they don't support Google forcing
China into radical reform. They especially oppose Google, together
with the U.S. government, teaching lessons to China. The poll
results revealed an unprecedented split and the complicated opinions
of the Chinese people, which is worth noting and contemplating.
China is undergoing a transformational period. This is an occasion
when truly knowing the Chinese people's opinion is very important.
The West must seriously consider Chinese people's opinion when
dealing with China. We hope that, regarding all discussions about
the Google incident, foreign governments and companies can be aware
of the importance of knowing the real opinion of the Chinese people.
They had better make a sober judgment, not misinterpreting anything
and not against the Chinese people's opinions. Doing business in
China means that the company must obey China's law and it is the
Chinese people who will make decisions about their own issues."
b. "The U.S., don't intervene in China's Internet openness"
The official Communist Party international news publication Global
Times (Huanqiu Shibao)(01/18)(pg 14): "It is normal that a
commercial company enters or withdraws from the China market. But
the Google incident is different. Its way of giving the Chinese
government an ultimatum for a compromise obviously contains
political significance. The fact that it also gained the support of
the U.S. government, U.S. Congress and Western media shows that the
incident is thoroughly politicized. Such political orientation has
been imposed by the United States and the West on China. China's
attitude to open up to the world is indeed sincere. For China, when
compared with what the former Soviet Union and East European nations
historically did, it is wiser to insist that the country walk its
own path when it is learning from the West. On an important issue
like Internet supervision, the Chinese people should develop their
own thinking and way of doing things, but not let Google's CEO or
the U.S. Department of States decide. Shortly before Google
announced its withdrawal from China, Secretary Clinton held a
small-scale banquet with the CEOs of Microsoft, twitter, Google and
others, which will produce speculation among many people. Looking
at its recent measures, one can see that the U.S. government is
implementing 'smart power' to reinstall and secure the values of the
U.S. It is hoped that a transnational company like Google will not
turn into a pure political tool to export American values for the
United States."
c. "If there is no Google"
Guangdong 21st Century Publishing Company Ltd.'s business newspaper
21st Century Business Herald (21Shiji Jingji Baodao)(01/15) (pg 23):
"Without Google, the United States' economic process over the past
decade may well be a step backwards. Google is not only a search
engine but also an ecosystem. It is like China's Alibaba.com and
Taobao.com, on which tens of millions of people are interdependent
and seek common development. Once they are disappeared, China's
tens of millions of small-and-medium sized enterprises and
self-employed individuals will face closure, unemployment and
bankruptcy. Google is a much larger ecosystem, which has gone
beyond sales and become the focal point of information and a
ubiquitous Internet portal. Although the day without Google will
not be the end of the world, since there are other search engines,
when any one of the economic powers lacks sufficient innovation,
given the interdependent nature of today's global economy, it leads
to more economic insecurity and no country can survive another round
of economic crisis."
2. HAITI
"The United States is afraid of chaos in Haiti"
The China Radio International sponsored newspaper World News Journal
(Shijie Xinwenbao)(01/19)(pg 16): "The U.S., not only for
humanitarian reasons but also for political considerations, is
willing to send thousands of soldiers to Haiti for the disaster
relief effort. Maintaining stabilities in Haiti meets the U.S.'s
interests. The United States has been promoting 'American
democracy' in Haiti for nearly a hundred years, during which its
policies were not consistent, repeatedly back and forth, and toward
the Haiti government specifically not always favorable. In the last
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20 years, Haiti has swayed between a military government and a
people-elected government, for which the U.S. had made important
military and political interventions. According to experts,
Jean-Bertrand Aristide was the Haitian leader supported by the
United States, but later discarded in favor of its political
interests. Politically speaking, the United States supports whoever
is able to maintain the stability of Haiti and dumps whoever is not
able to."
HUNTSMAN