Chinese President Xi Jinping’s book, The Governance of China is in the news but for all the wrong reasons. For according to a Reuters report on this, Amazon removed all feedback on the book after being nudged by the government there to do so. This happened two years ago so that the book isn’t accompanied by any reviews, comments, or ratings on the Amazon China page.
Amazon may have had little choice but to fall in line given that its very survival in the country was at stake, which translates to business of huge proportions in the country. China presents a huge market, which together with an ever-growing economy made enough business sense for Amazon to comply with the request. As it is, the country had already emerged as the largest market for its Kindle e-readers. According to an internal document that dates back to 2018, China alone makes for 40 percent of Kindle’s global sales volume.
Amazon, on its part, said they usually are accommodative of local sensitivities and make it a point to follow the rules and regulations that apply to the place where it operates. This also isn’t a one-off incident as Amazon has been facing increasing pressure to take down content considered politically sensitive by the powers that be in the country that does have a history of suppressing dissent.
The censorship however applies to only the Amazon China site. The book, The Governance of China, which is a collection of speeches and writings of the Chinese president is however open to receiving feedback on the Amazon.com site where it has already received 74 percent five-star ratings. Other books, meanwhile, continue to have reviews, ratings and comments enabled in China.
The Amazon saga also isn’t a one-off thin as several companies have had similar experiences operating in China. Many such as Microsoft’s LinkedIn or Yahoo! opted to leave the country while others like Canada Goose, Nike, or Adidas have faced increasing resistance from the ruling dispensation for speaking against human rights violations or other contentious issues in China.
With a keen interest in tech, I make it a point to keep myself updated on the latest developments in technology and gadgets. That includes smartphones or tablet devices but stretches to even AI and self-driven automobiles, the latter being my latest fad. Besides writing, I like watching videos, reading, listening to music, or experimenting with different recipes. The motion picture is another aspect that interests me a lot, and I'll likely make a film sometime in the future.