Google, China and censorship

Two global powers, one the

largest Internet company and the

other the most populous nation,

are currently in a heated negotiation-

war. Google Inc. announced

Jan. 12 that it is considering withdrawing

from China, which, with

nearly 400 million Internet users,

is by far the largest Internet market

in the world.

Google, on its official blog, stated:

"In mid-December, we detected

a highly sophisticated and targeted

attack on our corporate infrastructure

originating from China that

resulted in the theft of intellectual

property from Google ... we have

evidence to suggest that a primary

goal of the attackers was accessing

the Gmail accounts of Chinese

human rights activists ... We have

decided we are no longer willing

to continue censoring our results

on Google.cn, and so over the next

few weeks we will be discussing

with the Chinese government the

basis on which we could operate

an unfiltered search engine within

the law, if at all. We recognize that

this may well mean having to shut

down Google.cn, and potentially

our offices in China."

As of press time, Google is in

closed-door talks with the PRC government

over this issue. An investigation

is ongoing as to whether

the security breaches were tied

to the government. The Chinese

Communist Party, of course,

denies any involvement. White

House spokesperson Bill Burton

told reporters that President

Obama "continues to be troubled

by the cyber-security breach that

Google attributes to China ... All

we are looking for from China are

some answers."

Regarding the matter, Secretary

of State Hilary Rodham Clinton

released the following statement:

"We have been briefed by Google

on these allegations, which raise

very serious concerns and questions.

We look to the Chinese government

for an explanation. The

ability to operate with confidence

in cyberspace is critical in a modern

society and economy. I will be

giving an address next week on the

centrality of Internet freedom in

the 21st century, and we will have

further comment on this matter as

the facts become clear."

The address mentioned above,

which Secretary Clinton delivered

Jan. 21, was planned before

the events involving the dispute

unfolded, but in the address,

Clinton didn't tiptoe around the

China-Google dispute.

She said: "[T]echnologies with

the potential to open up access to

government and promote transparency

can also be hijacked by

governments to crush dissent and

deny human rights. ... The Internet

has already been a source of tremendous

progress in China. ... But

countries that restrict free access

to information or violate the basic

rights of Internet users risk walling

themselves off from the progress

of the next century. ... On their

own, new technologies do not take

sides in the struggle for freedom

and progress, but the United States

does. We stand for a single Internet

where all of humanity has equal

access to knowledge and ideas."

The full text of her speech is

available on the State Department's

Web site.

In response to Clinton, a

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson

said that the U.S. is making

"groundless accusations" and

that they "insinuated that China

restricts internet freedom." He

added, "This runs contrary to the

facts and is harmful to China-U.S.

relations."

The president and Clinton both

clearly stand behind Google, but

the dispute is very complex and

barriers between sides are fluid.

As per usual, oversimplification

of the matter is rampant in the

media. Back in 2006, when Google

formally entered the Chinese market

with the launch of Google.cn,

the company agreed to censor its

search results in accordance with

Chinese law. This decision met

harsh criticism from those who

took Google's unofficial "Don't be

evil" motto to heart.

A company statement at that

time attempted to justify the

decision to enter the PRC: "While

removing search results is inconsistent

with Google's mission,

providing no information (or a

heavily degraded user experience

that amounts to no information)

is more inconsistent with our mission."

Now, most national U.S. media

are praising Google for standing

up to the "evil" Chinese government

and "The Great Firewall of

China", but some of them do make

a nod toward this 2006 decision

and the view that when combined

with current statements, it leads to

charges of hypocrisy.

What is largely overlooked is

the manner in which arguments

from both sides are mismatched.

While the hacking may have

been motivated by a desire of

the responsible party to stifle dissent,

the end result is "theft of

intellectual property", not restriction

of public access to information.

Google is essentially arguing

against its 2006 self.

The Internet giant is now planning

to keep both its research

center and mobile phone division

active in China. The former is

responsible for most of Google's

revenue and the latter is very likely

to reap profits in the future

as China's mobile phone market

expands. There are currently over

700 million cell phone users and

projections estimate there will be

over 1 billion by 2013.

Google has used this situation

as an opportunity to alter its moral