Broadside Opinion

Michael Dematteo, Broadside Correspondent

In a recent article published in Broadside that dealt with the ramifications of China’s most recent attempt at hacking Google, Inc., Broadside correspondent Justin Lalputan stated that the United States has “berated” the Communist nation in response to its policy of informational oppression. Mr. Lalputan uses the logic of international political sovereignty and an advancement of Chinese state-sponsored actions.

According to Mr. Lalputan’s reaction in “Secretary Clinton vs. China: Is the United States Government Going Too Far with Foreign Google Affair,” it seems that he thinks the United States is taking the role of the meddler and continuing its perceived role as global police in all foreign policies, regardless of the nation in question.

As he put it, “the United States has no business telling [China] what to do.” While he makes valid arguments in some parts of the report, the article is hypocritical at best and could not be further from the truth.

Edmund Burke once wrote that “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

In an era filled with the blossoming of freedom and democracy progressed by the actions of good men, evil still may have room to exist. Take, for example, the role of Chinese censorship.

In 21st century America, students are bombarded with an omnipresence of interconnectivity and freedom of information. At George Mason University, there are plentiful outlets that enable students to learn about the current events of the world — HD televisions, websites and newspapers abound.

For Chinese citizens, though, the freedom to use such materials in a manner untarnished by government control is a futile notion. Almost every aspect of life is checked and re-checked to avoid even the smallest criticism of the state or atheistic communism.

Google plays a giant role in allowing Chinese citizens to access information devoid of censorship and advance human rights.

In reaction to Google’s role as liberator, the Chinese government hacked the search giant’s servers and shut down access to the site for weeks primarily to ascertain information on activists.

In response, the United States criticized the action. In a press conference, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared that, “in an interconnected world, an attack on one nation’s networks can be an attack on all,” referring to hacked networks here in the U.S. As an extension of Secretary Clinton’s statement, in an interconnected world, an attack on a source of freedom of speech is not only tyrannical, but it seeks to undermine the freedoms of all global citizens.

As China’s recent attempt to block the flow of information and interconnectivity is analyzed, it must be stated that, whether the attack was meant to hinder Google as a corporation or to preclude the Chinese people from accessing information, it served no purpose but to degrade the rights of human beings.

According to Mr. Lalputan, “It is not the job of the United States to push our values down the throat of other nations.” I wholeheartedly disagree.

As the world’s sole remaining superpower, the United States should lead by example and call out oppression wherever it may be. President Andrew Jackson once stated that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.

As the people of China seek to utilize Google as a source of freedom, the United States should not stand idly by. Rather, it should seek to stand vigilant and help advance freedom by protecting Google and other sources in an age when liberty and justice for all should be possessions of all earth’s inhabitants.