Jul
13
- Chris Braund
- 13/Jul/2010 10:48
With reports that the Chinese government is renewing Google's licence to operate in China, is this finally the end of the fight between arguably the two biggest powers in the world?
China has more internet users than any other country, and even though Google is not the market leader in the country (Baidu is), the market is very important to them in terms of potential. So important that Google's share price jumped 2.8% following the news of the renewal.
So what’s the story?
- January 2006: Google launches in China
- March 2009: China blocks access to YouTube
- June 2009: China introduces filtering software on all new PCs
- January 2010: Google says it may pull out of China after cyber attacks
- January 2010: China denounces US criticism of its internet controls
- March 2010: China's state media attacks Google for close ties with the White House
- March 2010: Google says will automatically redirect China customers to uncensored HK site,
- June 2010: Google says China customers now have to actively click on Hong Kong site
- July 2010: China renews Google licence
The main issue is fundamental politics. China though called a communist state, is generally considered an authoritarian government with strict controls over the population (hence the blocking of YouTube due to videos being show which were considered "a lie" against China). Whereas Google are equally as firm in their belief in free speech (hence there automatic redirect to Hong Kong to allow Chinese users to access all web results).
Are the arguments over?... Almost certainly not.