Google vs. the Dragon – War over words could ignite into flames

Updated Jan. 20, 2010 at 8:18 a.m.

Google vs. the Dragon – War over words could ignite into flames

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Note: The Skinny blog is written by Rick Smith, editor and co-founder of Local Tech Wire and business editor of WRAL.com.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – The deadly serious game of high-tech brinkmanship between Google and China is something you, Mr. or Ms. Business executive as well as Joe and Jayne American consumer, had best be paying attention to.

After being warned to kowtow on censorship demands of its China Web site, Google earlier today postponed launch of its mobile phone in Chinese markets.

Now, who will blink? Who will cave? Or will Google pull its business out from behind the Great Firewall of China?

Here are the words from the Chinese Foreign Ministry that triggered the Google phone delay:

"Foreign enterprises in China need to adhere to China's laws and regulations, respect the interests of the general public and cultural traditions and shoulder corresponding responsibilities. Google is no exception.”

While blood is not about to be sped unless China cracks down on freedom-loving Google advocates in Beijing and elsewhere, there could soon be serious loss of commerce. For business people wanting to operate in China, the Communist government is now issuing clear warnings about what is expected of you.

One has to admire all those people who are placing flowers, fruit and other gifts on the Google sign outside its headquarters in Beijing. These people must realize they are being videotaped every moment, their identities determined and files created about what no doubt is considered disruptive behavior.

For free-speech advocates and people who would choose to stand tall rather than kowtow in the interest of dollars, Google is also setting more examples for companies and individuals (as purchasers of Chinese-made goods) to follow.

The importance of the Google vs. China showdown can’t be underestimated.

If Google caves in or the U.S. government doesn’t express strong support for Google’s stand or if other firms don’t joint Google (Yahoo! has expressed support), then there can be no doubt that the lessons of bloody Tiananmen Square 20 years ago have been forgotten in the land of the free.

Here’s an interested point from Gideon Rachman in The Financial Times:

“The reason that the Google case is so significant is because it suggests that the assumptions on which US policy to China have been based since the Tiananmen massacre of 1989 could be plain wrong. The US has accepted – even welcomed – China’s emergence as a giant economic power because American policymakers convinced themselves that economic opening would lead to political liberalisation in China.

“If that assumption changes, American policy towards China could change with it. Welcoming the rise of a giant Asian economy that is also turning into a liberal democracy is one thing. Sponsoring the rise of a Leninist one-party state, that is America’s only plausible geopolitical rival, is a different proposition.”

If you haven’t paid much attention to the Google-China debate to this point, tune in. The consequences will be long felt on both sides of the Pacific.

The bottom line – dollars vs. freedom, right vs. wrong.

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Tags: Google, Opinion Analysis, China

The Skinny

WRAL Local Tech Wire Publisher and Editor Rick Smith dishes out tidbits from the local technology sector. Read more articles…

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