We belong to a group of 150 people from numerous occupations interested in China. Since 2003, we have been corresponding through a mailing list which used Yahoo Groups, discussing various topics concerning contemporary China.
We have now decided to leave Yahoo and switch to a different server. We are doing this because we object to Yahoo co-operating with the Chinese police in identifying dissidents, some of whom are now behind bars. Three cases of Yahoo's complicity have already been confirmed, and they concern journalist Shi Tao , dissident Li Zhi and, now, online writer Jiang Lijun .
We do not accept Yahoo's explanation that this is just business. It could have refused to co-operate and, if necessary, declined the contract. We also find it very hard to accept Yahoo's constant stonewalling of requests by the media and the public to give a full account of what has happened, who in China asked for what information, and what sort of pressure, if any, the company was put under.
Therefore, we no longer wish to be associated with Yahoo.
JONATHAN MIRSKY, London, and ILARIA MARIA SALA, Mui Wo
Fashion outrage
Mainland actress Vicki Zhao Wei provoked outrage in China in 2001 when she appeared on the cover of Fashion Magazine dressed in the Japanese military flag. Public sentiment against her raged so fiercely that the insensitive actress was attacked during a public performance.
