US Congressional investigators plan to look into whether Yahoo officials misrepresented the US Internet company's role in the arrest of a Chinese journalist sentenced to a decade in jail.
House Foreign Affairs Chairman Tom Lantos ordered the investigation after a human rights group released a document that it said raised questions about what Yahoo knew when it shared information with authorities about Shi Tao (
"For a firm engaged in the information industry, Yahoo sure has a lot of secrecy to answer for," said Lantos, a Democrat. "We expect to learn the truth and to hold the company to account."
Yahoo general counsel Michael Callahan told US lawmakers at a hearing last year that his company had no information about the nature of the investigation when it provided details about Shi to Chinese officials, Lantos said.
But the Dui Hua Foundation, a human rights group, has released a document that allegedly shows the Beijing State Security Bureau had written Yahoo saying it wanted e-mail content about Shi for an investigation into suspected "illegal provision of state secrets to foreign entities."
Lantos said that "covering up such a despicable practice when Congress seeks an explanation is a serious offense."
Jim Cullinan, a Yahoo spokesman, expressed disappointment that Lantos "is rushing to judgment on this issue, because the facts will support Yahoo's testimony to Congress."
Regarding the police document released by Dui Hua, Cullinan said "there are many and various descriptions of what state secrets could be, including legitimate investigations into things like terrorism."
To do business with China's more than 100 million Internet users, US tech companies must satisfy a government that fiercely polices Internet content.
Filters block "objectionable" foreign Web sites; regulations ban what Beijing considers subversive content and require that service providers enforce censorship.
The document requesting information from Yahoo was translated by Dui Hua; it was posted anonymously last week on a US-based Chinese-language site, Boxun.com, said Joshua Rosenzweig, research manager at Dui Hua.
He said it "is essentially a standardized search warrant making clear that Chinese law enforcement agencies have the legal authority to collect evidence in criminal cases."
Rosenzweig said Dui Hua believes the document is authentic based on its experience with Chinese legal papers.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS