What Does Google Hope to Achieve by Threatening to Leave China?

Google’s business model has achieved success around the world and its strong reputation is surpassed only by the breadth of its scope. And yet, the reason for its recent stance against China is unclear. Making political demands is the type of thing big businesses usually make great efforts to avoid.

In the past two days, Google has threatened to leave China. Some Western media outlets have applauded Google, and have seized the opportunity to criticize China. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and several Congressmen have followed suit, accusing China of causing the standoff. Yet it is Google who is at the center of this storm, and its role is changing.

Google originally complained that its servers were attacked. This then evolved into demanding China get rid of “internet censorship.” The jump from having server security issues to demanding China change its laws has caught Chinese people off guard.

Google is, after all, a business. What is it doing trying to get into politics? If Google is a business, it should be limited to the scope of business. Conflicts between firms can be resolved through business channels. But if you want to influence China’s political situation and its society’s process of reform, that is a different matter altogether.

There is some controversy about China’s internet management, but how to change it? It must be done with full respect for China’s current situation and with consideration for Chinese society’s level of tolerance as the basis for judging it.

Chinese society is already quite open and as the internet grows, it will only become more so. However, liberalization should be done incrementally. Opening up must be a process, and it’s impossible to succeed with just one step. The amount China’s door is opened should be designed and arranged by Chinese people themselves. The outside world should only act as a consultant. Even if it has the most advanced technology and the most funds, it’s incredibly arrogant to think that Google has the right to step around this process.

Google has been in China for three years, but it seems to understand very little about Chinese history. China was exploited by foreign countries in the 19th century, but is now a fully autonomous country. Foreign enterprises have no right to operate in China but somehow think they are outside China’s legal jurisdiction.

Google wants to get rid of internet censorship, but as an article from the American website Mashable said, “To think that China would change its rules and allow its citizens unfiltered access to objectionable content is absurd.”*

The last few years, China has been scolded by many in the West, and Google’s threat to leave is only intensifying this. The Western media has been very supportive of Google’s stance. Now Chinese people have no choice but to be more vigilant and on guard.

The English newspaper The Guardian has predicted that if Google leaves, it will be devastating for China. Therefore, China should submit to some of Google’s demands. On the contrary, in the face of Google’s threat, Chinese society must unite.

Many in China use Google’s search engine. Without the service, it could temporarily influence some Chinese people’s internet lives. Therefore, we welcome Google to stay. But if they do, they must adjust and adapt to China’s laws. If Google insists on leaving China, it will be okay. In the long run, only Google will suffer, as it will be isolated from the Chinese market.

(Translator’s Note: this article leaves out certain key words of the Mashable quote, and also omits the next sentence, which is crucial in understanding the meaning. It is as follows:

“To think that China would change its rules and allow its citizens unfiltered access to what it believes is objectionable content (e.g. porn), as well as information and images on its greatest atrocities, is absurd. China backing off would weaken its iron-grip hold and open it up to more calls for the abolition of censorship inside its borders.”)