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Dispute Leads Google to Shut Down Chinese Search Engine
March 24, 2010
By: Benjamin Russell | Printer Friendly

Two months after a highly-publicized security breach threatened to derail its operations in China, Google announced this week that it will no longer be running its mainland China-based google.cn search engine and instead will redirect users to its uncensored Hong Kong-based search engine. 

The move comes after months of negotiation between Google and the Chinese government stemming from a December 2009 hacking incident that targeted human rights and democracy activists using Google’s “gmail” service, according to the BBC.  The company claimed to have traced the hack to elements within the Chinese government.
 
Google will still be subject to state censorship in China, but the switch means the company will no longer be required to self-censor its search results.  Google representatives, who in February claimed they would no longer comply with Chinese censorship requirements, believe sending users to their Hong Kong site is a way to uphold that commitment without violating Chinese law.

 “Figuring out how to make good on our promise to stop censoring search on google.cn has been hard,” said Google vice-president David Drummond.

Drummond sees the hacking incident and China’s censorship policies as part of the same problem. “It seemed to us that this was all part of an overall system bent on suppressing expression, whether it was by controlling internet search results or trying to surveil activists. It is all part of the same repressive program, from our point of view. We felt that we were being part of that,” Drummond told the Atlantic’s James Fallows.

Despite Google executives’ belief that the move to the Hong Kong search engine represented a “viable compromise,” the reaction from the Chinese government has been less than positive.  "This is totally wrong. We're uncompromisingly opposed to the politicization of commercial issues, and express our discontent and indignation to Google for its unreasonable accusations and conducts," an unnamed official was quoted as saying by Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

Some observers speculate that China’s next step could be to block access to all access to Google, which is second-most widely used search engine in the country behind the homegrown Baidu, according to the New York Times.  For the time being, Google’s Hong Kong site will be offering search results in simplified Chinese, the most common script for those on the mainland.
 
Whatever the immediate fallout of Google’s switch, most believe the conflict could have long-term consequences for both sides. “Ultimately, this incident could end up hurting China far more than it does Google -- exposing the country's claims of increased openness as hollow, scaring away potential investors, and taking away a valuable source of innovation and healthy competition,” according to Foreign Policy’s Blake Hounshell.

Others claim it is Google that stands to lose from the dispute.  “I don’t understand their calculation,” said J. Stapleton Roy, director of the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. “I do not see how Google could have concluded that they could have faced down the Chinese on a domestic censorship issue,” said Mr. Roy, a former United States ambassador to China.  Though revenue from their Chinese operations represents a tiny fraction of the company’s profits, many believe Google is jeopardizing its long-term goals by pulling out of the massive Chinese market, according to Real Clear World’s Compass blog.

Several companies have already cut ties with Google in China, and the company’s departure may open space for rivals both foreign and domestic to gain ground in the Chinese market.  Several mobile companies have removed Google search software from mobile devices in the country, according to the New York Times.

Google’s withdrawal from China is only partial, though, and the company will continue to offer maps and music services and maintain its r&d and sales operations there.  Sergey Brin, one of Google’s founders, also left the door open to a possible return to the country.  “Perhaps we can return to serving mainland China in the future,” he said.

Sources:

Real Clear World – Compass Blog

Foreign Policy – Passport Blog

The Atlantic Monthly – An Interview with David Drummond of Google

NY Times – After China Move, Google Faces the Fallout

NY Times – Google Shuts China Site in Dispute over Censorship

BBC World News – China Condemns Decision by Google to Lift Censorship