The google threat to withdraw from China has set the Chinese govt to soul search. The human rights violations of internet users in China with initial help from google ( which caused google to hold back..) has been the focal point, besides the hacking of Google China sites.
How long can each side flex its muscles and wait for the other to submit ? Is it Chinese belief in "Might is Right" or Google's belief in "Right is Might" ??
ge..
The problem is not as simple as "Might is Right" or "Right is Might". There are most definitely human and civil rights violations in China (as there are in India and the US and many other countries in the world). In the case of China, all everyone does is talk about it and do nothing. All these countries (including India) that talk about human rights violations in China are hypocrites. They do nothing to address the issue. Sanctions are the most effective form of addressing the issue. After all it worked in South Africa. And yet these countries go on with business as usual with China without as so much as batting an eyelid.
ReplyDeleteWhen you consider that, I think what Google did is really remarkable. It pulled out of a huge market, with a potential for huge revenue loss. The repercussions of such an action are still up in the air. No one knows how it will affect Google. And we don't know if China is going fold and collapse (very unlikely) or whether they will come up with a Google-killer app (again, unlikely for a while).
Rajan
Well I do not think what google done is remarkbale.
ReplyDeleteI would rather say that it was what the best pay-off that they would have
got in the current situation considering the fact that their market share is
considerably less compared to Baidu and they have better opening position
in any negotiation that they have to eventually do with the Chinese
governement by taking such a stand. It was brilliant business move not a
humanrights move. Baidu has better market share in China today for various reason including
that they agree to everything what the Chinese Governement says which Goggle has
not been able to do because it will jeoperdise their global position.
I do not think any human right or right of speech issue is a prime businesss objective
for the companies and they would stake their interests for such things.
I sincerely doubt whether Google would have taken this position if it had much bigger market share
Look The human rights issue has become the most important issue for Google because somebody has
hacked into it's network (actually it was not just Google who was hacked) and if it would
not have happened it would have been still okay for them to have such issues.
Before the Obama administration has really decide it's approrach on this broader issue we have a
new human right's champion
Come on give me a break.... What about this Eric Schmidt running for President
As I always say "Deepasthambham Mahacharyam Namukkum Kittanam Panam"
Having said that something better than nothing...that is atleast what they could have done
Regards
Subramonian
Honestly, I'd completely forgotten Baidu. In light of that, your assessment of Google's actions makes sense. And come to think of it, there have been criticisms of Google's position in China (aiding in the censoring of search results for the Chinese government) in the past.
ReplyDeleteRajan Karunakaran