Former Microsoft Corp executive Kai-fu Lee (
In testimony during a Tuesday hearing on Microsoft's lawsuit against Lee and Google, Lee said he wrote a memo to another Microsoft executive saying he was "deeply disappointed at our incompetence in China -- that we have wasted so many years in China with little to show for it."
Microsoft is suing on the grounds that Lee, an expert in computer recognition of language and Internet search technology, signed a noncompete agreement, in which he agreed not to perform similar work for any rival for one year after leaving Microsoft. Lee was hired away by Google this summer; Google and Lee maintain that he has not, and has no intention of, compromising Microsoft's trade secrets.
Lee went on to say in the e-mail that he was embarrassed by Microsoft's business practices and that people in the government joke about Microsoft's internal politics. But he provided few details in his testimony on Tuesday about what exactly the Chinese government was frustrated with.
The former executive testified that one of the lowest moments of his career with Microsoft was a conversation in which Gates yelled at him and said that the company had been "f-----" by the Chinese people and its government. Lee did not clarify the context of Gates' alleged comments.
Microsoft spokeswoman Stacy Drake said Gates did not make such a statement.
"Bill Gates adamantly denies ever making such a comment. This is another attempt to deflect interest from the real issues in this case," she said.
Google spokesman Steve Langdon said he did not know the context or date of Gates' alleged comments, and did not know if he would be able to obtain that information. He said neither Lee nor Lee's attorney was immediately available to comment following the proceedings.
In his testimony, Lee also complained that Microsoft had more than 20 business groups operating virtually autonomously in China, with little cohesion.
Among other problems, Lee said, was a commitment Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer made in 2002 to outsource $100 million in work to China. Within the last year, after it had become clear that Microsoft was not fulfilling this promise, Lee said, he was put in charge of outsourcing jobs to China.
Drake said she could not confirm the numbers cited by Lee. But she confirmed that Microsoft has been outsourcing some work -- such as software testing -- to China and other countries, to free up its US staff for other projects.
In video testimony on Tuesday, Ballmer defended Microsoft's business plan in China, saying that through a process of trial and error the company had developed what he called a "secret sauce" for successful operations there.
Lee, who had worked at Microsoft beginning in 2000, joined Google in July to lead its expansion into China.
Microsoft contends that Lee's duties at Google would violate the terms of the noncompete deal. It also accused Lee of using insider information to get the Google job.
Google denies the allegations and has countersued Microsoft.
Microsoft attorneys sought on Tuesday's hearing to restrict what work Lee can do for Google until the lawsuit goes to trial in January.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique