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China: Revenue opportunities and the Internet death penalty

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China

Andrew Donoghue ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 27 Nov 2003 15:10 GMT

Gates' frequent statements on the importance of world health seem strange set against China's handling of the SARS virus. The country was widely criticised for suppressing the true extent of the crisis to its people and the world after the illness was first reported in November last year.

Although China's new president, Hu Jintao, recently dismissed his health minister and the mayor of Beijing and then appeared on television to promise the public there would be no more lies, he has also threatened anyone who spreads the virus with the death penalty, according to the 20 May 2003 edition of China Daily online.

Microsoft is not alone in seeing the "opportunities" in China. Another tech heavyweight, Dell, also has substantial interests in China. "China's already become the second-largest market in the world. We're the largest company in China, after Legend," Michael Dell said in an interview with CNET News.com. Dell has also tried to position himself as a philanthropist by donating 2.7 million shares of stock in 1999 to create the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation and claims to have a social conscience when it comes to how the money is spent. "[I]n my opinion, giving isn't just about forking over money and saying 'See you later.' It's about making sure you're getting the desired outcome...Find out what, exactly, is going to happen with the funds that you give to an organisation," he said in the December 1999 issue of Fast Company magazine.

Never one to miss a opportunity, Sun chief executive Scott McNealy is also chasing hard for a slice of China. Following an agreement between Sun and China Standard Software to establish Sun's Java Desktop System as the foundation for desktop development in the country, the company's chief executive Scott McNealy said: "We're going to immediately roll out the Java Desktop System to between half a million and a million desktops in 2004. It makes us instantaneously the No.1 Linux desktop player on the planet."