On January 12, 2010, Google announced “A new approach to China” on its blog. Back in January 2006, when Google first entered China it noted that “we will carefully monitor conditions in China, including new laws and other restrictions on our services. If we determine that we are unable to achieve the objectives outlined we will not hesitate to reconsider our approach to China.
The blog went on to say,
[the sophisticated attacks on Google's infrastructure] and the surveillance they have uncovered–combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the web–have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China. 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.
The decision to review our business operations in China has been incredibly hard, and we know that it will have potentially far-reaching consequences. We want to make clear that this move was driven by our executives in the United States, without the knowledge or involvement of our employees in China who have worked incredibly hard to make Google.cn the success it is today. We are committed to working responsibly to resolve the very difficult issues raised.
The GoogleGazer’s mission is to stay on top of all thing Google. So we read with great interest the story entitled “U.S. Holds Fire in Google-China Feud” published in the Wall Street Journal that reported on the responses to Google’s announcement.
The thrust of the article was that the U.S. government, as well as many businessmen ran for cover for fear of antagonizing China.
I was disappointed, but not at all surprised that President Obama’s wish to be loved trumps standing up for what’s right. No other world leader has such an insecurity. As leaders of their respective countries, they do what’s best for their countries’ self interests. Unfortunately, ours does not, because he wants all nations to love him, so he can never take a principled stand. Our enemies have all figured it out, and so have our allies. As Rodney Dangerfield said, he “don’t get no respect.” .”
Let’s face it. China’s behavior was and is abhorrent. It is a corrupt, totalitarian regime that shows contempt for its own people, for intellectual property, and for the USA, its largest trading partner. Why? Because it can. And because its leaders seek to remain in power at any cost. Ditto Iran. And he list goes on.
So when Google finally took a strong stand on China’s censorship and interception of private mail, it was sad, but surely no surprise that the Obama administration gave Google but tepid support. The Obama administration was “wary of taking sides in Google Inc.’s battle with China,” said the Journal.
Since when is the fight for freedom Google’s fight and not their fight?
Jun Jing responded to my comments in the Journal:
USA is not China’s “largest trading partner”, the EU is. And the USA’s importance to China is diminishing by the day as more and more protectionist barriers are being setup by Obama administration. Wait till China becomes really disgusted by this and start to dump treasury bills. Google is just a very insignificant player in the grand scheme of things. If they really want to stand up against Chinese government why do they still keep the filter on?
Last I looked, Europe is a continent and the USA is a country. Indeed, the US is China’s largest trading partner. 
Readers would do well to read, or reread Hannah Arendt’s book, The Origins of Totalitarianism (German: Elemente und Ursprünge totaler Herrschaft). It describes and analyzes the two major totalitarian movements of the twentieth century, Nazism and Stalinism. Many of the same apologetics uttered by Mr. Jing and by selfish businessmen reluctant to antagonize China for fear of losing sales were said in the Nazi era in defense of the indefensible.(See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Origins_of_Totalitarianism for a quick summary of Arendt’s book). George Santayana, in his Reason in Common Sense, The Life of Reason, Vol.1, famously wrote “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Take heed.
You have been given fair warning.
(The claim that “Google is just a very insignificant player in the grand scheme of things” is too silly to deserve a response.)
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: | Barak Obama, China, Emperor Akihoto, Google Chine, Hanna Arendt, Rodney Dangerfield, totalitarianism
