Did Google just bail on their China bluff? Discuss. | Hacker News Reader

Did Google just bail on their China bluff? Discuss.

nathanroach.com

3 pointsnroach6 comments

More detail ...

WSJ: http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100121-717467.html

It looks increasingly like the Google threat to pull out of China or stop censoring results was nothing more than a bluff: one they were destined to lose. The Chinese government isn't known for caving to public opinion or threats that don't have a very big stick in the background. Frankly, it seems naive for Google to think it could change that stance.

If Google will "continue to follow their laws" and "continue to offer censored results", that seems like a whole like folding when your bluff is called.

As to Google's line in the sand? In a "reasonably short time from now" they will "be making some changes there". That's a loophole wide enough to swallow the great wall.

Umm, from the article (which is paywalled, but if you paste the title into Google you can get around that):

"We continue to follow their laws, we continue to offer censored results, but at a reasonably short time from now we will be making some changes there."

Google is not going to de-censor search results in China. China doesn't back down from the private sector and Google knows that the sheer volume of people in China will result in positive cash flow regardless of the results censorships. They have no financial motivation to face up to the empire and as buzz dies down they'll have little political/social threat either.

Google is not going to de-censor search results in China

They already did.

http://images.google.cn/images?hl=zh-CN&resnum=0&q=t...

It's funny because all westerners are trying to unit test google.cn censorship using a keyword Chinese never use :)

I don't want to start a offtopic thread on HN, but just FYI:

1. Tian an men is with a lot of other meanings

2. The 'tianamnen massacre' known to the west has different names or referrals in China, the most common phrase is '1989 student movement'

3. The actual massacre didn't happen in Tiananmen, but in the city outer borders when the army are try to enter the city and encounters the road blocks setup by citizens and students.

Bringing the matter to the public's attention is sufficient in my opinion. Google pulling out would only leave a vacant spaced filled probably with another company more willing to be controlled. So I would rather Google stay and keep taking it's lumps all the while providing us with the feedback.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com