Google, China ... And The Wall

Google, the largest Web search engine, will no longer offer its services directly to mainland China — home to most of the planet's Internet users. The move signals an interesting turning point in what can be simply described as a battle between oppression and freedom.

Still, it's far from clear who will ultimately win this battle, but the first round seems to have gone in favor of the Chinese government, which fears outside influences corrupting the mindset of its people.

Chinese users lost official Google access two weeks ago in response to government censorship and hacker intrusions. The Mountainview, Calif.-based company pulled the plug on its Chinese-language search Web site, Google.cn, and redirected Internet users in mainland China to Google's service in Hong Kong — Google.com.hk — which is not subject to some of China's regulations.

The Chinese government, under President Hu Jintao, has cracked down on online freedoms in recent years with censorship that blocks certain words when entered into a search engine. Words such as oppression, democracy, genocide and human rights are blocked by search engines such as Baido.cn or Yahoo.cn, reports Timothy Fenster of the Stylus.

Outrage by the Chinese people is tough to measure, but it may not be as Draconian as it appears to those of us in the Western World.

"Mostly, I think we exaggerate the disaffection of Chinese toward their government,'' writes Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times op-ed columnist. "Most Chinese citizens aren’t very political and aren’t deeply upset by the lack of a ballot — as long as living standards continue to improve. And many Chinese prefer a local search engine, Baidu, to Google. Still, ordinary Chinese are profoundly irritated by corruption, nepotism, lies, official arrogance — and hassles when they try to use the Internet,'' Kristof says.

Sherman So, a Hong Kong-based correspondent writing for Asia Times Online, sees winners in the faceoff between the Chinese government and Google.

"One clear winner is Baidu, Google's main rival in the mainland,'' So says. "Baidu's Nasdaq-listed shares soared 50 percent from Jan. 12, when Google announced its intention to leave China, to April 1, adding $6.9 billion to the Chinese company's valuation. Google's shares dropped 5 percent in the period, costing $10 billion in market capitalization, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index gained about 3.9 percent.

"By standing firm in the face of Google's demands that it be allowed to run uncensored Internet searches, (the government) upheld the principle that every company in China has to obey Chinese laws," So says. "The company can say it stood by the principle of Internet freedom (and its motto of 'do no evil') and its wish to run an unfiltered search engine in China. At the same time, it is still milking the vast Chinese market through its other interests."

Some see this outcome as a way both sides can save face, according to So, who notes the Chinese government has "mastery in blocking unwanted information over the Internet, what the industry calls the 'Great Firewall' of China. Popular social network sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube (which belongs to Google), and Blogger (also Google's) have long been routinely blocked, to the frustration of many people living in Beijing and elsewhere."

Kristof, of The New York Times, says access to an unfettered Internet in mainland China is viewed by high-ranking officials as a real threat to the government's control over citizens, especially the younger generation.

"The mood among young Chinese reminds me of Taiwan or South Korea or Indonesia in the 1980s, when an increasingly educated middle class — beneficiaries of enlightened economic policies of oppressive governments — grew to feel stifled and patronized by their governments. Eventually, in each case they upended one-party rule and achieved a democracy.

"Chinese leaders surely fear that parallel, and that is likely to be one of the reasons they are cracking down frantically on dissent," Kristof writes.

One can only hope the "enlightened" people of mainland China find the courage to seek more knowledge of the outside world. The more they learn the better the planet will be for all of us. Knowledge is power and, used wisely, there is no greater force.

As for me, I practice what I preach at writenowworks.com.