Diplomacy in the Corporate World

I wrote recently about the participation of American media companies in China's opressive censorship policies; I argued that our government should sanction those companies. Unfortunately we do not have a government that values the most basic human rights principles (habeus corpus, privacy, not being tortured, etc). Thankfully, there is another way.


Governments, even the most directly democratic ones, are not mere extentions of public whims, they have their own interests and agendas. And, they are no longer the only actors on the world stage. No, I am not saying the world is flat or any other poorly crafted mataphor Thomas Friedman has dreamt up while trimming his well-coifed moustache. I am just saying that this is a corporate world, and states are influenced by CEOs as much as they are ambassadors, trade representatives and Senators.

This is not very good news for those of us who believe capitalism makes for very bad public policy.

But this week there is an opportunity for one man, one of the most powerful in the world, to continue to do good. He is a self-appointed humanitarian and one of Time Magazine's People of the Year. He is very rich and has very, very, very bad hair. He is Bill Gates, and he is meeting with Hu Jintao, the Chinese communist leader:

Mr. Hu plans to visit Microsoft and dine with its chairman, Bill
Gates, in Seattle on Tuesday. Human rights and media watchdog groups have
pressed Mr. Gates to raise concerns about China's online censorship and arrest
of cyber-dissidents when they meet. Mr. Hu will also tour Boeing's aircraft
factory there before continuing on to Washington on Thursday and delivering a
speech at Yale on Friday.

Link.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has an endowment larger than the GDP of Tanzania, but this week its founder will have a chance to advance the cause of human rights and free speech for a price every CEO loves too hear: zero.