14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft’s trouble in China does not appear to end anytime soon, but the U.S.-China Business Council (USCBC) could actually lend a hand to the company, as it’s now stepping in to disclose some of the illegal practices that investigators come down to in order to close the cases.
As ChinaTopix is reporting, the USCBC claims that local investigators are forcing companies currently involved in anti-trust probes, including Microsoft itself, to “admit guilt” and pressure officials working for corporations accused of violating anti-trust laws to respond to charges without a lawyer.
“Such practices contradict both the letter and the spirit of China's efforts to promote rule of law and due process,” the group has said in a statement today.
On the other hand, Chinese authorities say through the voice of Xu Kunlin, head of the National Development and Reform Commission's anti-monopoly bureau, that both foreign and domestic companies are treated equally “to ensure justice for all.”
Microsoft in particular is investigated for the way it promoted its software in the country, with Chinese regulators claiming that the company refused to disclose some compatibility issues of Office and Internet Explorer.
The country’s anti-trust bodies offered Microsoft a 20-day deadline to provide more information on its failure to detail compatibility issues, while the software giant has already said that it’s willing to fully collaborate with investigators in order to close the case.
Chinese authorities decided to ban Windows 8 on government computers in May this year amid claims that Microsoft might use the software to steal state secrets and spy on its leaders. While Microsoft has always denied such accusations, China instead decided to make Windows 8 a forbidden product and develop its very own operating system based on Linux.
And still, moving users from Windows to Linux could be a really difficult task, as statistics show that more than 90 percent of the desktop computers in the country are running Microsoft’s operating system.
This isn’t going to happen anytime soon, and Microsoft knows this very well, so Redmond hopes that investigations will come to an end without any fine for violations of competition rules.
CEO Satya Nadella himself is going to travel to China, but although sources close to the matter said that Microsoft’s big honcho could meet with local authorities to discuss the anti-trust issues, the company actually claims that the visit was planned before the investigation even started.
“Satya's trip was planned before the Chinese government investigation began. We’re committed to complying with China's laws and addressing SAIC's questions and concerns,” a Microsoft spokesperson said.