Google Shifts From China to Hong Kong

In order to live up to its words and its promise, the world's largest search engine site Google has officially announced it would shut down its China-based site, cease the filtering search results in Chinese and move to a Hong Kong-based portal. The decision to move Google from China to Hong Kong is apparently taking advantage of China's legal loopholes. To the Chinese authorities, such decision by Google is a challenge.

Unequivocal Statement
From a commercial point of view, this decision by Google is definitely not a win-win development for both parties. The technology in China is able to allow the Chinese authorities to block Chinese Internet users to access the Hong Kong based Google's Chinese sites that have not been censored and filtered by the Google corporation.

However, in its clear and unequivocal statement Google did criticize that more than 10 Chinese human rights activists' Gmail accounts have been hacked and that such hacking act was related to China's move to further restrict freedom of expression on the internet network in 2009. Therefore, due to Google's statement, China will again bear the stigma of stifling internet freedom.

Dissatisfaction and Indignation
Interestingly, after Google announced its withdrawal from China and move to Hong Kong, Google's competitors in the United States have not answered to Google's call to support the global debate on Internet freedom. Moreover, the Barack Obama administration that has taken a high-profiled manner to support Google earlier has also become silent without giving Google strong support as it has done in the past. In response to Google's statement and decision to withdraw from China, the White House statement only expressed its disappointment that Google has failed to reach an agreement with the Chinese Government.

However, although the Chinese authorities have sharply criticized Google's decision as breaching its promise with China, Chinese government only emphasized that "the Chinese government resolutely opposes to politicizing business issue. The Chinese authority expresses dissatisfaction and indignation to Google's unjustified accusation." Clearly, in order to pave a smoother path for Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to the United States, both the Chinese and the US authorities would like to play down the Google incident from now onward.

Dveloping Controversies

As the controversial Google dispute develops, it has now become an issue that it is Google's own insistence on the principle of Internet freedom that has led to its leaving the potential Chinese market. However, Google has continued to maintain its research and development team in China. Google has also maintained its sale personnel in China.

Moreover, we also notice that the Chinese authorities have also not making a point to pressure the closure of Google's research and development plant from China. It is not impossible for Google to return to China one day. Google's leaving the potential Chinese market is not a win-win development for both parties.