Your Voice | Letters

Don't support China To the Editor: My son recently received advertising from the University of Pennsylvania Computer Connection. It promoted Dell, Apple and IBM ThinkPad laptops. IBM recently sold its IBM ThinkPad laptop product line to a company called Lenovo. Lenovo is a company whose majority shareholder is the Chinese Communist government. In an attempt to avoid purchasing products made by an oppressive communist regime, I looked at Dell laptops. Dell has a very interesting Web site, which prominently displays the American flag. Being suckered in by an example of corporate mendacity, I ordered from Dell. When the big day arrived and I began unpacking the newly shipped laptop, I was dismayed to discover that the computer had, in fact, been made in Malaysia. In addition, several peripherals had been made in China. As you know, there has recently been a huge Dell laptop battery recall. Having checked my Dell battery, I discovered that it was assembled in China. Apple has recently announced a battery recall. I wonder where those batteries were made. In any event, I strenuously object to the University of Pennsylvania colluding with the Communist Chinese government to sell it's products. Why not just donate money directly to the Communist Chinese military? The Communist Chinese government is a totalitarian dictatorship. It oppresses its people. It outlaws democracy. It disallows freedom of speech and religion. Several years ago, college campuses and university policies were firmly directed against apartheid. There were demands for the University to terminate any investments directly or indirectly related to companies doing business with South Africa. The same should be true of Communist China. Why are we doing business with an oppressive regime? Why is there not an outcry among the Penn Community to boycott Chinese products, including laptop computers, until the Chinese government frees its people? Penn's Computer Connection should stop selling IBM ThinkPads and refuse to buy Dell components made in nondemocratic countries. It should also carefully investigate other computer companies to carefully select products that are not manufactured by the governments of oppressed peoples. A school founded by Benjamin Franklin - one of the founders of modern democracy - and where the first electronic, digital computer was constructed should be at the forefront of this issue. I challenge the Penn community to do what is right.

Paul Russ 1979 School of Medicine alumnus

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