Keep Google in China with alternative strategy

• Source: Global Times
• [22:55 January 13 2010]
• Comments

By Iain Mills

In 1994, Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, made his first visit to China. Dressed in his trademark jeans and T-shirt, Gates met with top Chinese officials, including then-President Jiang Zemin, to discuss how the world's biggest company could enter the world's biggest market.

However, while Gates may have become accustomed to getting his way with US politicians, Jiang reportedly sent him away with a flea in his ear: "Come back to China," the President said, "when you have learned something about Chinese culture."

To Gates' credit, he followed Jiang's advice, and the next year arranged a lengthy family holiday in the country. Since then, Microsoft has gone on to become a leading player in the Chinese software market, and their research laboratories in Beijing and Chengdu have become world-class facilities credited with developing numerous successful products both at home and abroad.

However, what Gates first visit shows is not American arrogance or Chinese conservatism. Instead it evinces more deeply-rooted issues over how and under what conditions foreign companies can access China, its resources and markets.

This power struggle has been occurring for centuries, with foreign governments and businesses dazzled by the country's wealth and size, and the Chinese keen to ensure any deal is made on their terms.

The latest incident in this long history is Google's decision, disclosed yesterday, to stop censoring results on its search engines in China. Like Microsoft a decade ago, Google is an American behemoth, a company so large that its directors are used to calling the shots with competitors and politicians alike. But, even they have been forced to acknowledge that this decision "may well mean"the end of its operations in China.

Censorship is, clearly, a contentious issue both inside China and abroad. When Google agreed to censor its searches in 2006, it was roundly criticized by Western media. In its defense, the company stated that it was simply following Chinese law. No doubt yesterday's announcement that it was taking "a new approach to China"¯will be met with great approval by those who criticize China's stance on information distribution.