Amazon Bowed To Beijing's Propaganda Arm To Keep Chinese Sales Secured, New Report Reveals
Similar to what we noted about Apple and its "pay to play" arrangement with the Chinese government at the beginning of the month, it looks as though Amazon is also in the midst of trading integrity for profit when it comes to Beijing.
Amazon was "marketing a collection of President Xi Jinping's speeches and writings on its Chinese website about two years ago, when Beijing delivered an edict," according to a new report from Reuters. Beijing wanted Amazon to stop allowing customer ratings and reviews from China.
The demand from the CCP came as a result of negative reviews of Xi's book, the report says. "I think the issue was anything under five stars," a source told Reuters.
Amazon complied with the demand, according to two sources, and on Amazon.cn, customers are unable to review or rate the book. The comments section for the book is also disabled.
Adhering to the demands of the CCP is one piece of a "deeper, decade-long effort by the company to win favor in Beijing," the report claimed.
Amazon said in an internal 2018 memo about doing business in China: "Ideological control and propaganda is the core of the toolkit for the communist party to achieve and maintain its success. We are not making judgement on whether it is right or wrong."
The report claims that "helping to further the ruling Communist Party's global economic and political agenda" has been crucial to Amazon's success in China.
In fact, Amazon even partnered with Beijing's propaganda apparatus to create a selling portal for U.S. customers called "China Books". While it hasn't generated significant revenue, the report says, "it was seen by Amazon as crucial to winning support in China".
The same 2018 Amazon briefing document called China Books "the key element to safeguard" to keep its licensing problem with China at bay.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/amazon-bowed-beijings-propaganda-arm-keep-chinese-sales-secured-new-report-reveals