Is Bush Administration Complicit in China Censorship?

I’ve asked several informed people why the Bush administration has not been more energetic in leading the debate over U.S. hi-tech companies exporting dual-use technology to China and the MidEast that is used to repress free speech, a necessary contributor to the development of democratic states, which is a major U.S. foreign policy goal.

The answers I’ve received have mostly pointed at “unconsciousness” of the importance of the issue and its links to our foreign policy, or to free trade “ideology” overwhelming the practical problems of such a purist stance. Few have pointed to campaign contributions, or the like, as involved, given the generally apolitical or even Democratic leanings among much of the hi-tech elite.

The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) issued a comprehensive study in 2003 of “Roadmap to Responsible Export Controls: Learning From The Past.”

In the study, focusing on exports of WMD dual-use technology, “Key Elements of an Effective Export Control System,” the ISIS stressed,

Without the government’s support and positive reinforcement, individual companies might not take the initiative to proactively limit sensitive trade on their own.

The ISIS study concludes with a consideration of “The Psychology of Illegal Exports:”

Based on interviews conducted by ISIS staff, one particular trait of many businessmen or experts involved in illegal sales was their ability to rationalize actions, and in some cases, block out the circumstances that would call into question the morality or legality of their actions….This ability to rationalize and justify their actions appears to be recognized and exploited by proliferant states.

U.S. hi-tech companies seem to have a “stop me before I kill” attitude, to require the U.S. to negotiate the wholesale dismantlement of repression within tyrannical states before these hi-tech companies will recognize any moral responsibility themselves. An article on the hi-tech companies attitude has it: "Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo told Washington last week that they'd like their government to go bat for them and help them take a stand against censorship in China. The response so far: Do it yourself. "

There is dire need for leadership from the administration on this matter.

Mid-level administration witnesses at the hearings February 15 on “The Internet in China: A Tool for Freedom or Suppression?” need to be questioned closely and encouraged to more actively support reasonable trade restraints. (James Keith, State Dept. Senior Advisor for China and Mongolia; David Gross, Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Communications and Information Policy)

Please email the House International Relations Subcommittee chairman with your support for reasonable export controls.