The French website Aujourd’hui la Chine has posted candid interviews with two Chinese citizens who joined a group of Google supporters outside of the company’s headquarters in Beijing.
The interviews are in French but we’ve translated them below. It is quite striking how openly they speak about the significance of Google’s decision and the lack of freedom of expression in China.
Woman:
Today, I brought flowers to thank Google. I support them. I thank them for having spoken the truth and for having shown the reality of censorship. There are so many sites that we don’t have access to; the web is not free and this, no company ever says publicly. All the companies that are here make compromises with the government…either to access the Chinese market or to negotiate under the table. Google has spoken the truth.
Man:
Me, I’m a fan of Google. It helps me a lot with my work and my every day life. Baidu provides mostly the Chinese version of info, but because we now live in a global village, we also need international info…which isn’t the same as Chinese info. Frankly, Baidu isn’t the best.
Woman:
Baidu isn’t useful. It cooperates with the Chinese government and I don’t want this corporation to influence my day-to-day life. There’s no point in negotiating with the government. Freedom of expression isn’t negotiable, it’s a human right.
