A couple of years ago, THE WEEKLY STANDARD noted that American business interests and the media cover up China’s human rights abuses. It contains this anecdote, which seems relevant in light of the recent and long overdue scrutiny of the Clinton Foundation:
Meanwhile, not only does it appear American technology companies have done little if anything to help the Chinese people—in some cases they’ve actively aided government oppression. In September 2005, Hunan journalist Shi Tao was sentenced to 10 years in prison for sending the Chinese Propaganda Department’s directives to a website that advocates democracy. Specifically, it was a memo warning journalists not to publish anything relating to Chinese dissidents marking the 15th anniversary of Tiananmen Square. It emerged that Shi Tao had sent the directives using a Yahoo email address, and that Yahoo ceded to the demands of Chinese police and revealed his identity. When Yahoo’s CEO was asked about his company’s complicity, he responded, “We respect the customs of the countries where we do business.” And indeed, Yahoo’s doing a lot of business in China. Thanks to its respect for China’s customary repression of free speech, less than a year after Shi Tao was arrested, the Chinese government allowed the company to purchase a hefty stake in the Chinese e-commerce site Alibaba, known as the “Amazon.com of China.” To celebrate the purchase, Yahoo threw an expensive party. The guest of honor was none other than Bill Clinton. The former president was surely aware of Yahoo’s collusion in the arrest of Shi Tao, which had made international news, but he chose not to exercise any moral leadership in defense of the imprisoned journalist. In 2011, Yahoo donated $50,000 to the Clinton’s foundation and webcast the foundation’s benefit concert, “A Decade of Difference: A Concert Celebrating 10 Years of the William J. Clinton Foundation,” featuring Lady Gaga, Usher, Kenny Chesney, and Bono. As for Yahoo, it still owns about a quarter of Alibaba. The company is expected to file an IPO next year valuing Alibaba at as much as $100 billion, which should prove extremely profitable for Yahoo.
As of this morning, Alibaba’s market cap was just north of $237 billion and Yahoo retains a sizable stake in the business. Whatever Clinton was paid for his initial appearance, plus $50,000 to the Clinton Foundation, seems like a bargain in order to get the former president—and likely husband of the next president—to bless this deplorable deal.
