The China’s state-run daily Global Times in defending the recent bow down from Marriott International to Chinese authorities in apologizing for listing Tibet, Taiwan, etc., as separate territories, wrote that free speech can not be used as an excuse to allow speech that China opposes no matter what. The Chinese daily writes it in response to an article in The Washington Post that said the Marriott behavior pitiful.
“Beijing has been charged with interfering in the affairs of other nations by using its enormous leverage over international companies doing business within China to control what they say, not just to Chinese audiences but on web pages outside of China. The Global Times editorial argues that on the contrary, in matters of “Chinese sovereignty” such as expressing support for “Tibetan separatists” or independence-minded Taiwanese, China is the aggrieved party forced to act defensively against assaults upon its national integrity.” said the report in BREITBART.
While the Marriott International recently complied to China’s censorship demands by apologizing and changing their website information from listing Tibet, Taiwan etc as separate territories. In addition to that, the leading international hotelier even fired one of its employees for retweeting a message from a Tibetan independence group to appease the Chinese authorities.
The Washington Post while termed the recent Marriott International’s decision to apologize the Chinese authorities as ‘pitiful’, the Chinese editorial warned against the west that if the west sees the China with criticism, the future relations with China will be problematic!
“China didn’t intervene in the internal affairs of Western countries. Rather, it is opposed to Western interference into its own affairs. The Western elite has tried relentlessly to change the system of other countries, sometimes through non-democratic means. If the West continues to see China through rose-colored lens, its future relations with China will be a bumpy road.” it said in the Global Times.
However, the report in BREITBART rightly stated against the Chinese behavior and reinforced in the need for the strengthening of the western principles while dealing with the Chinese authorities.
“It is a safe bet that China will be emboldened to demand more as it receives more concessions, reinforcing its belief that Western principles are all for sale. A regime so insecure that it fears retweets and website pull-down menus can redraw national boundaries will never run out of speech it wishes to curtail. The more Western companies give in to these demands—especially when they are tech companies with enormous influence on free speech in the Information Age—the more China’s principles will replace the Western understanding of inalienable rights as a matter of habit.” added the report in the BREITBART.
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