China foes in House deploy Nazi analogy

Wu said Google, Yahoo! and other firms had no reason to oppose the bill. “If it was true about trade with China and opening up non-open societies through technology, then this legislation should not be a problem. It is merely carrying through on the commitments the high-tech companies made when they were arguing for that trade position.”

Yahoo! executives will appear before the committee on Nov. 6 to explain whether and why their firm turned over information to the Chinese authorities which led to the imprisonment of dissident Shi Tao.

Wu’s fellow Democrat, Adam Smith — opposing Republican Christopher Smith — thinks the bill is misguided.

“This legislation is going to be broader and far more sweeping than anticipated and it won’t have a positive impact,” the Washington state Democrat said. “The existing export control laws we have make it harder for U.S. companies to do business while the rest of the world doesn’t have the same restrictions. This bill would add to that.”

He added, “I’m not happy with China, I’m not happy with a whole bunch of countries in the Middle East. I’m not happy with Venezuela or Burma. But is it going to be the U.S. position that we’re going to cut you off and not do business with you if you do something we don’t like? That’s something I worry about.”

The bill faces an uncertain future if it reaches the House floor.

For now, the high-tech firms who are its targets are restrained in their reactions to it.

Yahoo! Spokesperson Tracy Schmaler said, “This highlights the complexity of the issues confronting U.S. companies doing business in China and similar countries, and we think it’s an important dialogue to have about the role the U.S. government should play in facing these challenges. We look forward to working constructively with Congress to find practical solutions.”

Google spokesman Adam Kovacevich said only that, “we're still evaluating this legislation.”

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