Yahoo-Sponsored Chinese Human Rights Museum Opens in Washington
On Wednesday, the Laogai Museum will open on M Street in Washington, D.C. Run by expatriate Chinese dissident Harry Wu, the museum documents forced labor camps called laogai through photographs, government papers and prisoner uniforms. Wu spent 19 years working in 12 different camps and was released in 1979 after Mao Zedong's death. His Laogai Research Foundation estimates that since the early 1950s, some 40 to 50 million people have been imprisoned in the laogai, many of them prisoners of conscience. The Chinese government has since abandoned the term laogai and called the facilities just 'prisons.'
The museum is backed by a noteworthy benefactor: Internet giant Yahoo Inc. Following its public apology last year for aiding in the arrest of Chinese journalist Shi Tao, Yahoo set up a human rights fund to 'provide humanitarian and legal support to political dissidents who have been imprisoned for expressing their views online.' The museum is one of the fund's first public projects. Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang is scheduled to cut the ribbon and speak at the museum's opening.
Beyond adjusting its own behavior ″ as with the recent Global Network Initiative ″ how much of a public role can Yahoo take in highlighting and improving human rights in China? Yahoo owns 40% of Chinese Internet giant Alibaba, and Yang himself sits on the company's board. The more Yahoo takes a public stand on China's human rights issues, the more tricky it could become for the company to do business there.
Some rights groups say Yahoo is still not doing enough. In a letter dated Nov. 6, Amnesty International USA called on Yang to 'use the full scope of your influence in engaging both U.S. and Chinese authorities' to secure the release of journalist Shi. Yahoo didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. |
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