Can Google Save Face In China?

Posted by Michael Michelini on Mar 14 2010

I have personally been wondering what is going on with the Google vs. China government. My friends are asking me the latest, but its really quiet….there was tons of news on it, back and forth with the Chinese government, news press releases, and other crazy news….then it got quiet.

Google Buzz came out, and seems to have just let people see any Google product inside of it without being blocked in China.

Can Google Stay In China And Still Save Face?

Mar 12, 2010 at 9:08am ET by Greg Sterling

Ever since Google’s bold statement early this year that it would be withdrawing from the Chinese search market if it couldn’t find a way to operate without censorship, Mountain View has found itself in a bit of a no-win situation. Google CEO Eric Schmidt has expressed several times that the company would like to remain in China (the largest internet and mobile market on the planet) despite the tough stand.

So for those of you that don’t know what “face” is in China – its basically respect. And sadly, I would say Google has lost respect here. Because they seem irresponsible, to leave the chinese people – as in China, I have learned, you cannot change the government. The government will lose money, investment, etc etc- they dont care – they want power and control. So to think the government here cares about google staying or not, and to use the Chinese people as a way to leverage the stance of Google in China – is silly and shows how little Google knows about China…..

I think google will stay, I think they will end up being quiet about the whole debate, and they will have to listen to what the government says….at least they tried, but the fashion in which they tried seems sorely mis-calculated.

Incoming search terms:

can google stay in china and still save face?
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http://www.blog.daviddho.com David Ho

Viva La Revolution! I don’t know mate – perhaps with strategically allocated Hong Bao they could facilitate a more agreeable arrangement for uncensored search… no scratch that – that’s about as likely as Google mustering an army and invading the capital… Both would make great headlines.
http://blog.michaelmichelini.com mike

but now its more then just the chinese government, its the chinese people…

from my discussions with people here – they almost feel like a pawn google used to try to push the government to open up….

when in fact, the people (myself included) knew the chinese government wouldn’t budge……

so seems like a major loss of face to google
Scott

i just read an article that google said 99.9% chance they will be leaving the country. fyi

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTOE62C00N20100313?type=marketsNews
http://blog.michaelmichelini.com mike

well, thanks Scott, guess Google will definitely lose face here, haha.

The biggest loser here is the internet user in China – I mean, the younger generation – they are so curious, so hungry to learn about the outside world..

but the government wants to keep them all held inside of the GFW (great firewall) of China…and make them only believe what they want them to hear.

Sad. really is sad. Wondering what will happen when / if Google really leaves….it will make people here more ignorant.
wang

一个公司和一个国家、一只蚂蚁与一个大象、一个鸡蛋和一个石头的交流！
http://blog.michaelmichelini.com/?fbconnect_action=myhome&userid=1 mike

wang said (in as best translation as I can see) when a company goes against a government, its like an ant vs. an elephant.

so google would lose against a government.
http://www.mailini.com/blog/156 谷歌能否在中国挽回面子？ | 迈理倪的中文博客-美国人在深圳

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American ecommerce guy, I've been living in South China - Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Dongguan (+ a touch of Philippines) since end of 2007.

Successfully selling online since 2004, took it fulltime early 2007. Love international business & connecting, and working on ways to give hard working people global opportunities. (Read More...)