Internet firm Yahoo provided Chinese authorities with information used to jail one of its users for eight years, an activist group said yesterday -- the second time Yahoo has been accused of helping jail a Chinese user.
Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said Yahoo's Hong Kong unit provided information about Li Zhi (李志), a man from southwestern China who was sentenced to prison in 2003 for subversion after posting comments online criticizing official corruption.
Mary Osako, a spokeswoman for California-based Yahoo, said the company didn't know of the case and couldn't comment on whether the group's account was accurate.
However, Osako said that Yahoo Hong Kong would not have had access to Li's Chinese account -- and that it never releases information to the Chinese government.
She said the company was investigating whether Yahoo China, run by a partner company, released the data.
Activists criticized Yahoo last year after it was disclosed that the company provided information that Chinese authorities used to convict and jail reporter Shi Tao (
"Now we know Yahoo works regularly and efficiently with the Chinese police," a Reporters Without Borders statement said.
It urged Internet companies to use US-based servers in "repressive countries" so governments must comply with US law when getting information on users.
Osako said that when the company receives government subpoenas, it isn't usually told how information will be used.
Only legally required information is turned over, she said.
"The choice in China and other countries is not whether to comply with law enforcement demands for information," Osako said. "Rather, the choice is whether to remain in the country."
Yahoo was "distressed" when it learned of the facts surrounding the Shi Tao case, she said.
In that case, Chinese authorities demanded information from Yahoo's China unit, which complied with Chinese law, Osako said.
She said earlier accounts that the information was supplied to Chinese authorities by Yahoo's Hong Kong arm were incorrect.
Google and Microsoft have also been criticized for enforcing Chinese censorship rules. Google's China-based service limits online searches for sensitive topics, and Microsoft shut down a user's Web log upon official Chinese demand.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source