Didn’t like Chinese President Xi Jinping’s book? Keep your mouth shut.
That’s what China told Amazon, according to a new report, when the country pushed the bookseller to delete all comments and reviews related to “The Governance of China,” a compendium of Xi’s speeches and writings.
Amazon complied. It’s another example of a US company bending to Chinese pressure in order to keep doing business in the huge and growing economy.
The government edict was delivered two years ago, according to the Reuters report citing two people familiar with the matter, but had never before been disclosed.
Now, on Amazon sites accessed within China, there are no reviews or star ratings for the book.
The censorship demand was made after some reviewers gave the leader’s tome less-than-stellar marks, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
It was a negative review that prompted the wholesale ban on reviews and ratings on the book, according to a source. The ban was for the book’s Amazon listing in China.
“I think the issue was anything under five stars,” one of the sources told Reuters.
Amazon agreed to the request as the price of doing business in China, ensuring its ability to thrive in the world’s most populated country, sources said.
nypost.com
