China’s apparently gotten to be more than Yahoo is willing to deal with right now:
Yahoo pulls out of China amid increasingly 'challenging' environment#Yahoo #China https://t.co/2xP9JW3azp
— Business Standard (@bsindia) November 2, 2021
More:
Yahoo Inc. on Tuesday said it plans to pull out of China, citing an increasingly challenging business and legal environment.
The company said in a statement that its services will no longer be accessible from mainland China as of Nov. 1.
“Yahoo remains committed to the rights of our users and a free and open internet. We thank our users for their support, the statement read.
It’s so awesome that Yahoo is willing to risk losing ChiCom money in order to take a stand for freedom. Only took them forever and a day.
RealClearInvestigations senior writer Mark Hemingway explains:
So a short thread about China and Yahoo and what truly vile behavior an American company engaged in to appease the ChiComs: https://t.co/M3m33cKXLX
— Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) November 2, 2021
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.
— Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) November 2, 2021
Specifically, it was a memo warning journalists not to publish anything relating to Chinese dissidents marking the 15th anniversary of Tiananmen Square.
— Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) November 2, 2021
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.
— Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) November 2, 2021
How can Yahoo remain committed to the rights of their users if they were evidently never committed to those rights in the first place?
When Yahoo’s CEO was asked about his company’s complicity, he responded, “We respect the customs of the countries where we do business.” Indeed, Yahoo’s did a lot of business in China.
— Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) November 2, 2021
TFW it literally pays to look the other way on human rights abuses.
Thanks to its respect for China’s customary repression of free speech, less than a year after Shi Tao's arrest, the ChiComs allowed the company to purchase a hefty stake in the Chinese e-commerce site Alibaba. To celebrate the purchase, Yahoo threw an expensive party.
— Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) November 2, 2021
The guest of honor was 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.— Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) November 2, 2021
In 2011, Yahoo donated $50,000 to 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.
— Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) November 2, 2021
Isn’t that special? It’s like one big, happy family!
As for Yahoo, it ended up owning about a quarter of Alibaba. Alibaba’s IPO ended up being worth $200 billion+, which proved extremely profitable for Yahoo.
— Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) November 2, 2021
Anyway, Yahoo made their blood money, and now some years later China has pulled the rug out from them – but it's just one of many examples of how much damage American companies and politicians are willing to do to make money in China. FIN.
— Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) November 2, 2021
Enes Kanter gets it. He knows what he risks by speaking out against China and he does it anyway. And China didn’t have to pull the rug out from under him in order for him to understand.
Yahoo gets a halfhearted golf clap for finally ditching China, but that’s the best they can hope for. If businesses and politicians want to earn our respect, they can start by telling the ChiComs exactly where they can stick their money.
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