Editorials

Googling sanction targets

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-18 07:48

Why did Washington react so strongly when skirmishes with Google broke out over legal requirements and alleged hacker attacks?

The remarks by a senior United States official on Monday once again attests to the fact that the world's sole superpower is using the Internet to serve its politics.

Adam Szubin, director of the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), told Reuters that Washington's adjustment in its sanctions against countries like Iran and Cuba last week paved the way for US companies to export services and software over the Internet.

Szubin made it clear that by ushering in greater Internet freedom, the so-called "smart sanctions" will serve Washington's foreign policy goals by instigating democratic change in these countries. In other words, he meant regime change.

Indeed, a regime change in the name of democracy by manipulating the Internet will bring great benefits with very little investment. Not to mention that Washington has never relented in its efforts to export democracy to developing countries.

The US official's explanation also sheds light on the question that many Chinese want to ask: Why did Washington react so strongly when skirmishes with Google broke out over legal requirements and alleged hacker attacks?

It's beyond belief that the US - a self-proclaimed champion of the free market - should openly support the company in defiance of the laws and regulations of another country.

The only logical deduction is Beijing might be a target of the US "smart sanctions" too. The so-called Internet freedom is only a pretext Washington uses to fool innocent people.

(China Daily 03/18/2010 page8)