Chinese minister insists Google obey the law

A few scenarios for Google.

Worst Case Scenarios

- Blow up: Google decamps in atmosphere of acrimony
- Google.com blocked, possibly even Gmail, Gtalk, Google Docs, Buzz, etc.
- All google products exit from China (partnerships with mobile companies end)

Moderate (and according to Kuo, most likely) Scenarios

- Google.cn shuttered
- Google.com, Gmail, Google Docs, etc. unblocked
- Google research and development and sales continue to operate in China
- Google continues mobile partnerships

Best Case (and not very likely, but not entirely far-fetched) Scenario

- Google.cn stops censoring and still stays in china
- Pigs fly over a frozen hell scape

www.webpronews.com...

reply to post by jam321


Something is brewing.
China seems to be asking about their "Investments" in the US
China wants US reassurance over dollar

"Any fluctuation in the value of the U.S. currency is a big concern for us," Premier Wen Jiabao said at a news conference.

"We cannot afford any mistake, how slight it is, when running our financial assets," he said. "I would like the United States to take concrete steps to reassure investors."

China has pressed Washington to control its yawning budget deficit and prevent inflation that would erode the value of the dollar and China's holdings.

The premier said Treasury values were a matter of the "national credibility" of the United States.

That last line

"The premier said Treasury values were a matter of the "national credibility" of the United States." sounds pretty alarming.

Although, I must say that I do agree with him. Financially, the US has not handled its business.

But on the other hand, I am weary of how well financially the Chinese are really doing.

I don't believe they are sharing the whole picture.

reply to post by jam321


China Threatens Google

With nearly 400 million people online, China is the country with the most Internet users. Google had 35.6% share of the Chinese search market by revenue in the fourth quarter, while homegrown Baidu Inc. had 58.4%, according to research company Analysys International.

The only problem here is Baidu Inc. is censored and Google is pretty much connected to the rest of the world.

They know it's almost game time.

Originally posted by SLAYER69
reply to post by jam321

 

Something is brewing.
China seems to be asking about their "Investments" in the US
China wants US reassurance over dollar

China's premier expressed concern about the U.S. dollar and called on Washington on Sunday to take "concrete steps" to reassure Beijing about the safety of its huge Treasury bond holdings.

"We cannot afford any mistake, how slight it is, when running our financial assets," he said. "I would like the United States to take concrete steps to reassure investors."

I read this as saying, "Silence your dissidents and arrest your free radicals"


[edit on 14-3-2010 by In nothing we trust]

reply to post by In nothing we trust


China has been encircled. India and China don't have the best relationship. Russia wants markets for it's oil. Central Asia is in play. China cannot expand East nor can they go North or West. Russia and India are not stupid. They see whats on the horizon with the Chinese markets. Once real consumerism breaks loose in China and Google breaks down the Great Wall.

The Chinese consumer market will be a free for all for foreign companies. The Chinese Government is just trying to hold back the inevitable tidal wave in order to hold on to power.

Chinese premier has tough words for U.S.

The Chinese leader also expressed concern for China's vast holdings of U.S. assets because of the dollar's depreciation.

"Some countries' moves to shore up exports are understandable," he said. "But what I cannot understand is they devaluate their own currencies while on the contrary push for the appreciation of others' currencies. I think it is protectionism."

The conference, which was broadcast live on state television from the Great Hall of the People, also allowed the premier to articulate how China sees its role as a growing player on the world stage.

Wen rebuffed criticism that China had become "arrogant" and was engaging in "triumphalism" -- charges that were largely flung after the Copenhagen climate change talks ended without a binding agreement. Wen painted the world's most populous nation as a country marching toward development against major odds.

Citing the yawning income gap between urban and rural residents and its unbalanced economy, Wen said China had too many domestic issues to address to focus on influencing affairs overseas. China, he said, would always be a passive nation.

"China will never seek hegemony," Wen said.

The premier said China would create a "fair playing ground" when asked about the souring business environment for foreign companies in light of Google's high-profile threat to leave China and the arrest of employees of the Australian mining giant Rio Tinto last year.

Wen said China wanted more foreign companies to build R&D centers and introduce advanced technology. He also said he would begin meeting with the foreign business community.

[edit on 14-3-2010 by SLAYER69]

reply to post by SLAYER69

Wen said China wanted more foreign companies to build R&D centers and introduce advanced technology. He also said he would begin meeting with the foreign business community.

Would certainly help China reduce its cost of spying and stealing technology from abroad.

Google Inc. appears increasingly likely to shutter its Chinese-language search engine, a step that would remove one of the last major foreign players from the world's most populous and fastest-growing Internet market.

A person familiar with situation said on Saturday that Google is likely to take action within weeks. Separately, Chinese authorities on Friday told local news Web sites that Google's Chinese site is likely to close and that, if it does, the news sites will be required to use only official accounts of the situation, rather than publish stories from anywhere else, according to a person familiar with the order

online.wsj.com...

Looks like Google is sticking to its guns.

Sorry, why shouldn't the law apply to Google?

In Japan, the initial version of google streetview broke the law. It pblished people's faces without consent. Solution: google complied with the law. Same applied in the UK, Greece, Denmark, Switzerland...

In the USA, google censors web results to comply with copyright legislation. In France and Germany, they remove web links that break hate speech laws.

Adhering to the law is the price of doing business in those countries. Why should it be different for China?

OK an update.


China Says Google’s Possible Shutdown Must Meet Rules

March 16 (Bloomberg) -- Google Inc.’s possible withdrawal from China, the world’s biggest Internet market by users, must meet Chinese regulations, according to the nation’s Ministry of Commerce.

Google should properly deal with any withdrawal, Yao Jian, spokesman for the ministry, said today at a press conference. The company should continue to abide by Chinese laws as it agreed to do when it initially entered the country, he said.

The owner of the world’s most-popular search engine said Jan. 12 it may exit China pending talks with the government on plan to stop censoring search results on its Google.cn site, after claiming it was targeted by cyber attacks. China’s Minister of Industry and Information Technology Li Yizhong last week said the government believes the dispute can be resolved.

China state media accuses Google of political agenda

Newest intrigue...

BEIJING - China's state media on Sunday accused Google Inc of pushing a political agenda by "groundlessly accusing the Chinese government" of supporting hacker attacks and by trying to export its own culture, values and ideas.

In a commentary signed by three Xinhua writers, the state news agency also sought to defend the government's Internet censorship, which Google has cited as one reason the world's largest search engine may quit China.

"Regrettably, Google's recent behaviors show that the company not just aims at expanding business in China, but is playing an active role in exporting culture, value and ideas.

"It is unfair for Google to impose its own value and yardsticks on Internet regulation to China, which has its own time-honored tradition, culture and value."

On Friday, the China Business News reported that Google may make an announcement as early as Monday on whether it will pull out of China.

So, Google is supposed to announce a decision and China is hedging it's bets either way? Accusing Google of political agenda should cover either decision...

Will they stay or go?

Here is the latest.

Stance by China to Limit Google Is Risk by Beijing

On Tuesday, a number of experts said Google’s decision to close down the search engine it hosted in China might not cause major problems there right away. But in the longer run, they said, China’s intransigence on a basic issue of human freedom and the open flow of information has the potential to weaken its connection to the global economy.

It may also sully its image — promoted to its own people as well as the international community — as an authoritarian country that is economically on the move, perhaps even more so than the sclerotic, democratic West.

“The Chinese are very serious about pushing their soft-power agenda,” Bill Bishop, a Beijing Internet entrepreneur and author of the technology blog Digicha, said Tuesday. “Google just put a big hole in that sales pitch, and I think they know that.”

China’s leaders appear fully aware of their dilemma. But at this stage in China’s history, and given the Communist Party’s determination to maintain absolute rule, the nation’s leaders still put political control ahead of all other concerns.

“What does Google’s exit say? What it says publicly is what everyone deeply engaged in China knows privately,” Kenneth G. Lieberthal, a Brookings Institution scholar and former Clinton administration adviser on China, said in an interview.

The Chinese government is blasting Google's decision to pull its search operations out of Beijing and reroute internet users through Hong Kong. Charlie D'Agata reports.

reply to post by SLAYER69


At least Google has the distinction of making the World's Most Ethical Companies List

Right up there with Ford, Matel, HP, Cummings, part of a hundred of the most ethical.

Sort of a good distinction which, I'm sure, China hasn't overlooked!