For the past two days, Gmail, Google’s email service, has been unusable in China. Some people said that they were able to receive but not send messages, while others could not receive messages at all, and this has led to several assumptions. Yesterday, a representative of China’s Foreign Ministry described the uncertainty of the situation with Gmail users to a reporter, but did not offer any about the situation with Google.
Gmail has been deemed by some experts to have the most powerful function of its kind. The email service has quite a number of users in China, especially those who frequently email abroad. There are also many people who synchronize their Gmail with other email services.
Ever since Google Search left the Chinese market in 2010, the company’s relations with China have been rather minimal. Lu Wei, the senior executive official in charge of cybersecurity and Internet policy in China, paid a visit to Google not long ago to welcome it and other U.S. network tycoons back into the Chinese market.
Google has had frequent friction with several countries in the world, similar in some ways to its issues with China. China invited Google to do business on the understanding that Google would abide by Chinese law, but Google emphasized its own values instead, hoping not to incur Chinese legal restrictions and causing a wave of friction between Google and China. Years have passed, China’s Internet market has grown, and network giants like Facebook have shown strong interest in entering the China market. Whether Google and China will ever loosen up their relationship is open to debate.
Gmail may be blocked because of China or because of Google, or both. Western opinion has quickly become used to declaring that it is China who should strengthen its network security, but this kind of criticism is too simple.
We should not forget that it was Google that announced its withdrawal from the Chinese market on its own. The word “block” is no way to summarize China’s attitude toward Google. The relationship between China and Google has been an issue of Google’s unwillingness to comply with China’s laws. China’s attitude has been relatively stable, whereas Google’s attitude has fluctuated.
For reasons known to everyone, China has the constant task of strengthening national security in the face of increased Western development. China’s network security and its ideological security are unavoidable considerations when we cross paths with big western information technology companies. However, China is not entirely trapped by its need for vigilance; it firmly intends to open up and seek a balance between Internet development and security.
Because of this, it is hard to believe that China blocked Gmail solely out of security concerns. Neither Google nor China has explained any reason for the outage, and given the technological sophistication of Gmail, there is probably something suspicious taking place that the outside world cannot figure out.
If China really did block Gmail, then it definitely had a major, newly discovered security reason to do so, and did not act on the basis of having “more than 10 years of worry.” And if this is so, Chinese Gmail users will just need to accept the reality that Gmail no longer works. However, we hope that this is not the case.
China and the U.S. encircle the Internet together with both cooperation and friction, yet their process of mutual adaptation continues. Because their relationship is large and complex, issues with the Internet are but a small part of their interaction. The changing world around them plays a role, too.
We only need to believe that there is logic in our Internet policy; it revolves around the fundamental interests and workings of Chinese society. In addition, interaction continues between China and the U.S. and between China and Google. Sometimes China has the ball and sometimes the U.S. does. China would not isolate itself, as everyone knows that it is not in our best interest.
Therefore, regardless of whether Gmail’s disconnection is because of Google, China or both, users may as well go with the flow and make the best of it. However many conflicts and interludes there have been in China’s development, what does it matter?
Yes, your leaders in China know what’s good for you to see and read even if they can’t explain it. That is at least better than your theory that Google is blocking itself 🙂