Google’s sudden change of heart on China has taken everybody by surprise. For years Google had gone out of its way to please China and continue its business there. It made good business sense. Internet users in China are expected to be 320 million as of date. Google.cn was started in China in 2006, amidst severe criticism from several experts on the rationale behind the venture. Now, things seem to have fallen apart with the bosses of Google Inc. deciding to review the feasibility of their operations in China.
Google made several compromises to please the Chinese Government. Google.cn was launched as a censured version of the Google we know. It modified Google Maps to please the Chinese in their claims over Arunachal Pradesh, carefully displayed search results on conterversial topics and did a host of other compromises. Still, the Chinese acted pricey, banning Google Books, and several other Google services which were uncensored. The result of this is now out in the open.
Of the two major issues, I plan to discuss, the first is the very act of censure ship. Indians take great pride in living in an open society. India’s cyber-space is fairly open with as few as 20 sites being banned in the last decade. Whenever Indians talk about China’s phenomenal growth story, they end up smirking at Chinese oppression and brim with optimism that the Chinese society will eventually collapse. But, just a few months earlier the Indian Government forced Google to remove sensitive content on Orkut (a social networking site) after the death of the former Andhra Chief Minister. The information was considered too sensitive for national security and Google obliged. The point that I am trying to drive here is this: Censure ship on information, unfortunately happens to be a common requirement in several societies. Google, by virtue of its position in the market is under pressure from several quarters and normal business operation involves dealing with such pressures. Given this, it was natural for Google to have entered China, with the hope of tailoring their services to suit the Chinese establishment.
The next question is, so will Google pull out of China. No!, that will not happen because of this fundamental law of economics – Supply meets demand. Supply, in the form of Google and demand in the form of China’s ever growing internet users, make a perfect match. China is a corner stone for Google’s aggressive growth plans. Yes, operations are hard in the land of the dragon. But it’s too huge a market to loose. As hard as it may be Google.cn will continue to cater to the Chinese Government’s restricted view of the world. The noises made now are just to create more leverage for the company, eventually they will die out. Proof of this is already coming out. Many Chinese are placing flowers outside Google’s office, in solidarity with the company. They people want the service to continue and that will eventually be sited as the reason to continue operations.
The one good thing coming out of this episode was that Google was the first major multinational to voice its protest over operations in China. There are a whole bunch of disgruntled companies finding life hard in China. Google’s vocal protest will serve well to raise the ante against the oppression in China. But again, that will happen only outside China, nothing inside.
