Please note: the original commentary was moved to the personal blog of the author here.
Google posted an article on its offical blog today stating that it will no longer censor its Chinese language search results even if this means that the company will "have to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China." The company lists recent hacker attacks from China in order to monitor China based activists as a reason.
This move doesnt come entirely surprising to us, after all we've heard from sources very close to Google's China operations and also after the resignation of Google China's former president Kai-Fu Lee in September last year. The company has been constantly losing market share against its rival Baidu in the last few months and is currently left with a small part (below 30%) of the Chinese search market. The way however Google (US HQ) arguments and prepares its exit of the Chinese search market is very surprising.
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Onyxia (Friday, 15 January 2010 11:26)
+1 Ping Guo.
for once, i'd like to meet a local chinese person talk about this without the whole 'nationalistic' pride thing. i always get so embarrassed for them. they come off as brainwashed and small-minded even if they've had years abroad studying. it's impossible to have a discussion with them.
we don't need china. it's NICE to have. but it's not a need.
i'm sure you like all those nice foreign things like an iphone that comes with wifi? and wouldn't it be nice for once to get the real thing instead of reverse engineering something and pretending it's innovated in china? or oh my! gawd forbid it! - hacking and stealing IP? also, wouldn't it also be nice to have easy access to the rest of the world? broaden your minds a little, perhaps?
google has to step in and slap that issue on the table for you? come on... do your bit for your own freedom. how many people are you again? perfect timing to do something, yes? unless, of course, you're PERFECTLY fine in the filthy basement, in the dark.
what will your technology and web landscape look like in the years to come as a result of this little situation?
what china stands to lose is way more than face here.
George (Friday, 15 January 2010 11:54)
Onyxia, I've added a note at the beginning of the the post. A misleading article on the net linked to this post claiming it was written by "an average Chinese person". Sorry about the confusion. Regarding your iPhone with wifi: Sorry to disappoint you but the production of your fancy American phone was subcontracted by Apple to a manufacturer in China (the company is called Foxconn - google it). Heres a little exercise for you: take at look at the room you're in when you're reading this. Make a list of all items in it like your computer, your screen, your phone, your tv , your clothes, your shoes, your watch, etc. and then check how many of them (or most of the parts that they contain) were produced in China. Oh: and don't get fooled by the "made in USA" label inside your baseball cap. This just means that it was manufactured in China and then shipped to Guam (better google that one too) for the final assembly (=attachment of the label) before it was transported to mainland USA ...
Viola (Friday, 15 January 2010 15:22)
I am Chinese and there are many comments on Chinese website about this issue now! Apparently most Chinese pople are angry at the government's control on the website. It's a great shame for the government! Facebook is leaving us, Youtube is leaving too, now is Google! things must be changed sometime!!! google is a respectable website, though retreating from China may be not the best choice! Anyway, there are still many Chinese who do support google and there are pro-google comments everywhere on the website!
onyxia (Saturday, 16 January 2010 04:36)
produced but nt innovated, yes?
also: http://arstechnica.com/security/news/2010/01/researchers-identify-command-servers-behind-google-attack.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss#
maggie (Friday, 12 March 2010 18:13)
I am chinese and am supporting google if it really
retreats. The chinese people are not stupid, they are
only terrified. Googls's retreat will add their
resentment towards those thugs.