Google Leaves China

The lead article in the New York Times today, “Google Closes Search Service Based in China,” describes the company’s decision to move its offices from China to Hong Kong as a protest against Chinese censorship. The search engine Google.cn will now be available in an uncensored format to Chinese users from the new location.

Google and China have been feuding for several months over the search engine’s policy, and Chinese authorities may have hacked into the Google source code to view the email accounts of Chinese dissidents.

This action appears to have had a major impact on Google, and today’s decision represents a continuation of their unhappiness with Chinese authorities. When Google first entered the Chinese market, it had hoped that the censorship would be gradually reduced. Instead, the government has tightened restrictions.

Google.cn has been losing market share to the Chinese search engine, Baidu, and was only drawing about 30 percent of the market. Some Google watchers have suggested that this was the main reason for the departure, not censorship.

According to the article, many multinational corporations have entered the Chinese market, only to find the competition stacked against them. Instead of Chiense society becoming more open as a result, it seems to have been pushed in the opposite direction.

It is unknown whether mainland China will block Google’s new Hong Kong headquarters from access by Chinese users.