Google intended to end its operation in China because it was disappointed in the Chinese government’s censorship of internet content. After this claim was made public, I suddenly found that my contacts, most of whom are journalists, became a sea of flowers on the online chat platform of MSN. By putting a flower before their MSN identities, journalists who have long suffered and hated government’s censorship expressed sympathy toward Google. Some even put short sentences after their MSN identities, such as ‘Google, you have my respect’, ‘Stop censorship’ and so on.

However, is censorship the real reason motivating Google to make such a choice? I doubt it. I am tempted to see the Google decision as a business strategy more than anything else. Indeed it is true that Google has encountered tough censorship in China, probably greater than it has experienced in any other country. But recalling what Google has done before, we should be cautious not to celebrate too quickly the stance of Google: perhaps Google simply used censorship as an excuse to gain sympathy from the international community and distract public attention away from their real problem? Who knows.

Google insisted its decision was in protest of the Chinese government’s opposition to freedom of speech in cyberspace. This assertion should be treated critically. To be honest, Google is ultimately a business. Business is inevitably the dominant ideology and paramount consideration for most such companies. That is surely why Google willingly accepted self-censorship insisted on by the Chinese government in 2006 in order to have access to the Chinese Internet market – the largest internet population in the world. If concerned with freedom of speech, why did Google show little concern then? It is only three years later, now that Google is established in China, that it raises the banner of freedom of speech so strongly. In addition, another key fact must be kept in mind: According to a BBC article from earlier this month, Google only holds around a third of the Chinese search market, far behind local rival Baidu, which has more than 60% of the market. It might be correct then, as Baidu staff argue, that Google’s withdrawal from the Chinese market is fundamentally financially driven, but that in order to withdraw with their reputation intact, Google lifted a political banner as their public justification.

If Google’s real intention is to promote freedom of speech in China, such aggressive action will be proved strategically wrong. Why? Because the Chinese government has long been notorious for ignoring the pressures of public opinion or its image within the international community. “If you do not want to negotiate, the door for negotiation will be slammed in your face; if you turn your back on us, we will turn our backs on you without any hesitation” – that is their logic. Let’s wait and see.