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主题: 没事找事系列:维基解密2011年8月30日公布的一份美国驻北京大使馆2009年5月18日发往美国华府的电报(转帖)
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作者 没事找事系列:维基解密2011年8月30日公布的一份美国驻北京大使馆2009年5月18日发往美国华府的电报(转帖)   
安普若
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头衔: 海归元勋

头衔: 海归元勋
声望: 大师
性别: 性别:男
加入时间: 2004/02/21
文章: 26038
来自: 中国美国的飞机上
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文章标题: 没事找事系列:维基解密2011年8月30日公布的一份美国驻北京大使馆2009年5月18日发往美国华府的电报(转帖) (5770 reads)      时间: 2012-12-08 周六, 00:09   

作者:安普若海归主坛 发贴, 来自【海归网】 http://www.haiguinet.com

Viewing cable 09BEIJING1336, GOOGLE CHINA PAYING PRICE FOR RESISITING

If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs
Reference ID Created Classification Origin
09BEIJING1336 2009-05-18 23:26 CONFIDENTIAL Embassy Beijing
VZCZCXRO7366
OO RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #1336/01 1382326
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 182326Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4045
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 2587
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 1220
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 9307
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2475
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 001336

SIPDIS

State for EAP/CM - SFlatt, PPark, AGoodman
State for EEB/CIP - FSaeed, SFlynn
USTR for AWinter, JMcHale, AMain, TWineland
Commerce for MAC
Commerce for ITA - IKasoff, JWu

E.O. 12958: DECL: 5/19/2029
TAGS: ETRD PGOV SOCI SCUL ECON CH
SUBJECT: GOOGLE CHINA PAYING PRICE FOR RESISITING
CENSORSHIP; REQUESTS HIGH-LEVEL USG HELP

Ref: Beijing 1206

Classified By: Economic Minister Counselor
Robert Luke. Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

Summary
-------

¶1. (C) CDA spoke by phone with Google China
President Kai-Fu Lee on May 14 to discuss recent
pressure by the Chinese government to censor the
company's Chinese website, accelerated perhaps by
the approach of significant political
anniversaries. Lee averred that the root of the
problem was China's Politburo Standing Committee
member and propaganda chief Li Changchun, who
wants the company to remove a link to the
uncensored google.com site from its sanitized
Chinese version, google.cn. Lee said Google China
has resisted that step as against company
principles, though it has taken other smaller
measures to try and placate the government. Thus
far that tactic has been unsuccessful, and the
government has already taken commercial steps
against Google, including telling the three
dominant SOE telecoms to stop doing business with
the company. CDA and Lee discussed possible USG
advocacy, including having imminent visiting
Codels and possible Cabinet-level officials raise
this directly. For the moment, Google does not
wish to go public, preferring to see if current
efforts produce results. End Summary.

¶2. (C) At the request of Google China President
Kai-Fu Lee, CDA Dan Piccuta and Lee on May 14
talked by phone at length about the increasing
censorship pressure Google is facing. Lee said
Politburo Standing Committee member and propaganda
chief Li Changchun recently discovered that
Google's worldwide site is uncensored, and is
capable of Chinese language searches and search
results. Li allegedly entered his own name and
found results critical of him. He also noticed
the link from google.cn's homepage to google.com,
which Li reportedly believes is an "illegal site."
Li asked three ministries (note: most likely the
Ministry of Industry and Information Industry,
State Council Information Office, and Public
Security Bureau.) to write a report about Google
and demand that the company cease its "illegal
activities," which include linking to google.com.

Commercial Consequences Already Visible
---------------------------------------

¶3. (SBU) Lee said that removing the link to
google.com is against the company's principles,
and its leadership has definitively refused to
make such a change, despite the importance of the
Chinese market. Google recently has officially
but "politely" told the government this, Lee
noted, and their Chinese interlocutors at the time
were visibly unhappy and said they would report
the news to Li. Lee reported that Google had,
however, already made some changes to its Chinese
site and will continue to make others.
Nonetheless, he said China has already asked its
three state-owned telecom companies to stop
working with China, a hard blow because mobile
Internet is Google's "big bet in China." Lee said
one telecom company is seeking to back out of an
existing contract with Google, while the two
others have stopped moving ahead with
negotiations. Other SOEs have also been asked to
stop working with Google in China, Lee said.

¶4. (SBU) The best case scenario Lee foresees is
that China responds to Google's official refusal
to take down the link by issuing an order warning
against further non-compliance. More likely is

BEIJING 00001336 002 OF 003


that google.com will be blocked in China, either
sporadically or permanently. This would be
similar to China's current blocking of YouTube,
but with greater implications for users including
business travelers and tourists, advertisers, and
for Google's network and technology platforms,
possibly affecting other services like Gmail. Lee
thought it also possible that the government might
revoke Google's license to operate in China. He
acknowledged that sensitive anniversaries in 2009
present special challenges to the Chinese
government, especially the impending June 4
Tiananmen anniversary. (Note: Possibly in
preparation for this anniversary year, Chinese
censors have engaged in a months-long "anti-
vulgar" campaign to shut down hundreds of
"illegal" websites; see reftel.)

Google Deems its Legal Basis Sound
----------------------------------

¶5. (SBU) Google lawyers have found no legal basis
for China's demands, Lee reported. While the
government has called google.com an illegal
website to justify its request for removal of the
link, Chinese law does not explicitly identify the
site as illegal, the site is not blocked by China,
and thousands of other Chinese websites include
links to google.com.

¶6. (C) Lee said Google faces the dilemma of losing
the Chinese market in retaliation for maintaining
Google's integrity and brand. The CDA and Lee
discussed the difficulty of engaging China on this
matter, since no trade obligations cover China's
censorship regime, but considered what U.S.
Government actions might be possible nonetheless.

USG High-Level Advocacy Requested
---------------------------------

¶7. (C) Lee suggested that high-level USG officials
phone or write to Li Changchun to indicate support
for Google's operations in China, in accordance
with Chinese law. He suggested the letter could
urge further dialogue toward a mutually acceptable
resolution and suggest diplomatic or commercial
consequences in the event of rash or disruptive
action. After some discussion, Lee concluded that
intervention by Secretary Locke might be the most
effective step.

¶8. (C) Lee noted that he is already pursuing
Locke's assistance through his role as Vice Chair
of the Committee of 100, and that company
representatives will be meeting with Commerce U/S
O'Neill on May 18 in Washington. He noted that
Google has also raised the issue with
Representatives Kirk and Larson. However, he
stressed, he would like USG support in making
contact.

¶9. (C) The CDA said senior Embassy officials will
meet with relevant Chinese ministries to make it
clear the USG is aware of the issue, and to urge
them to work constructively with Google. Lee
stressed that, before the USG engages on their
behalf, Google would prefer to wait a few days to
see what other steps the Chinese government might
take.

Google History in China
-----------------------

¶10. (SBU) Lee explained that Google entered the
Chinese market in 2006 under scrutiny from
Congress and shareholders, both concerned with the
company's agreement to be subject to censorship.
To enter the China market legally, but remain
faithful to its values, the company took a path of

BEIJING 00001336 003 OF 003


"responsible engagement" that included three
commitments: Google will never disclose to the
Chinese government any personal information about
its users or their search habits; Google will
always include a disclosure notice to identify
when search results had been removed due to
censorship; and Google will always provide an
uncensored, U.S.-hosted site, subject to U.S. law.

¶11. (SBU) Lee said the Chinese government's
granting of the licenses necessary for Google to
operate in China implied passive approval or at
least tolerance of the above principles. Since
2006, Lee said, the company has operated
responsibly and legally, following censorship
orders just as other companies do. The vast
majority of Chinese government requests for
censorship have been related to pornographic
material and illegal activities, Lee said. In
total, only about one percent of search results
are blocked in China, according to the company.

¶12. (SBU) Lee observed that, before Google China
was formed, google.com was blocked in China in
2002 for approximately two months. At the time,
he said, scholarly users were the company's
largest constituency, and their complaints about
limited access to academic materials through
Google ultimately caused the government to re-open
the site. This time, Lee observed, Li seems
unconcerned with such repercussions, and will
likely not yield to pressure from China's Internet
community. Li, he said, believes Google is a
"tool" of the USG being used to "foment peaceful
revolution in China."

Comment
-------

¶13. (C) While we can neither confirm nor deny the
provocative language and views attributed to Li
Changchun, the claims of government-forced
retribution by the major SOE telecoms companies
are cause for serious concern. The potential for
continuing escalation by the Chinese, assuming
Google sticks to its guns -- and the likelihood of
loud U.S. Congressional and public outcry if it
caves -- suggest a high-level USG response may be
in order. While we cannot verify Lee's claims of
commercial retaliation, such a move seems quite
possible. End Comment.

作者:安普若海归主坛 发贴, 来自【海归网】 http://www.haiguinet.com









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