You know, if I was one of the major search engines, I would opt out of China and then publicize the heck out of the fact. Mark my words, there will come a day when someone in the search realm is totally going to cross the line over there. Even more so than they have so far…

SAN FRANCISCO (AFX) - Internet giant Yahoo said it is unaware of the case of cyber-activist Wang Xiaoning, who a human rights group alleges was imprisoned by the Chinese government with Yahoo’s help.

‘We are unaware of this case,’ said Yahoo spokesperson Mary Osako in a statement.

‘We condemn punishment of any activity internationally recognized as free expression, whether that punishment takes place in China or anywhere else in the world.

‘While we absolutely believe companies have a responsibility to identify appropriate practices in each market in which they do business, we also think there is a vital role for government-to-government discussion of the larger issues involved,’ Osako said.

The New York and Hong Kong-based Human Rights in China group said Wang was sentenced by a Beijing court on September 2003 on charges of ‘incitement to subvert state power’.

The rights group said the allegations against Wang stemmed from electronic journals he published from 2000 to 2002 and distributed by email through Yahoo email groups that he established anonymously in mainland China and Hong Kong.

Among the evidence cited against Wang is information provided by Yahoo Holdings (Hong Kong) Ltd that linked Wang’s Yahoo Group account to a mainland China email address used by Wang, the rights group said.

However, the judgement does not indicate whether Yahoo provided specific information regarding Wang’s identity. Source: Forbes/AFX News Limited

[tags]yahoo,china,cyber-activist,human rights,beijing court[/tags]