Internet giant Google is threatening to pull out of China after a "sophisticated computer network attack originating [in China] targeted its email service and corporate infrastructure."  According to Google, "a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists."

While Google officials acknowledged that the "Gmail accounts of dozens of China human rights advocates in the United States, China, and Europe 'appear to have been routinely accessed by third parties," this is the first time that hackers have broken into Google's corporate infrastructure for this purpose. As such, Google will seriously "review the feasibility" of operating in China.

The work of human rights activists worldwide has been aided in developments of technology. Activists in China can email first-hand accounts of rights abuses and other information to their partners across the globe. Outside organizations can then help publicize this information and use it to raise awareness of the situation in China. When the security of this connection is breached, those involved face serious risk.

Several years ago, two Chinese democracy activists using Yahoo! email were put in the Laogai after Yahoo! disclosed their online activity to the Chinese government.  Bloggers, Twitters, and others who express dissent through various online means all face persecution by the CCP.

While we appreciate Google's realization that business in China can pose real threats (not just to activists, but also to corporate intellectual property), it's been a long time in coming. 

Since Google's arrival in China, Google has been more than willing to censor its search results, contributing to and enabling the repression and human rights abuses by the Chinese Communist Party. Hopefully, this latest event will be a wakeup call for all international businesses who engage in rights repression with the CCP.