What will happen if Google leaves China?
- Source: Global Times
- [22:08 January 17 2010]
- Comments
GT: This business decision has evolved into a diplomatic incident. What's your take?
Wang: Google's move has put the Chinese government in a dilemma.
If we react softly, it would embarrass us, but reacting strongly would cost us more morally.
The best result is that the two sides can reach an agreement allowing us to still use Google.
People are also proposing various conspiracy theories around US government involvement in this decision.
These are always hard to falsify, and there is some plausible evidence, such as closed door meetings between Hillary Clinton and the heads of various high-tech companies, for the case.
We may also approach the issue from the perspective of globalization. Early globalization theorists believed that the rise of multinational corporations and social groups would restrict the power of the state, and this event shows that corporations are capable of offering challenges to sovereign governments.
Fan: We respect Google's business decisions. China opened the door to Google, but it has to abide by Chinese law when doing business in China.
China is a big country, and we do things in our own way. Chinese people can push forward the limits of freedom of speech and I have confidence in the future in this regard.
It is hard to tell how much leverage Google has. The company has made a moral call, but no other company has joined it.
The whole thing is good for Google's image without sacrificing a lot of business. It can still come back in the future.
Liu: I think the Chinese government took a firm and comprehensive stance on this issue.
On the one hand, the government made it clear that Google's behavior was not acceptable, and those IT companies that wish to stay in China need to obey the regulations
On the other hand, the government also made it clear that China's Internet market is still open for competition.
Moreover, what the Chinese government should do now is to help more domestic companies to compete with world-class IT companies.
Monopolies are never a good idea for business.
