Google is on its way to cease its Chinese operations. So it appears. At least, it appears to have made up its mind for that purpose, and the way the Government operates in China, it now looks to be a certainty. For the time being, Google has announced that it will stop censoring the search results served by its China search engine. But, it has also clearly hinted that it is willing to cease its Chinese operations, if it was not allowed to serve uncensored search results in China. This sudden change of policy comes from Google in response to “a highly sophisticated and targeted attack” that took place last month on Google servers and the “primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists”. Moreover, Google notes that “the accounts of dozens of U.S.-, China- and Europe-based Gmail users who are advocates of human rights in China appear to have been routinely accessed by third parties”. While obviously Google would not say it openly in so many words, but anybody with a little common sense can understand that Google suspects that these “sophisticated and targeted” cyber attacks were organized by some agencies who may perhaps have the blessings of the Chinese Government.
Better late than never. While the initial acceptance of censorship of its China search engine’s search results may itself have been a controversial decision, it is good that Google has realized at least now that “freedom of speech” is more important than its business interests. Keeping in view the fact that Google has finally prepared itself to confront the Chinese Government on the aspect of freedom of speech and on the question of censorship, it will definitely create at least some noticeable waves in the Chinese waters. However, there does not appear to be any possibility of a change in the Chinese policy of curbing the freedom of speech in the immediate future, though in the longer run it is definite that you cannot, for ever, deprive a great nation of more than one billion people from the basic human rights such as freedom of speech. Moreover, the kind of explosive economic progress that is being made by China for last several years, will ultimately help its people to also enjoy the same basic freedoms as people in most countries routinely enjoy these days. Perhaps, it is the time to express solidarity with the Chinese people.
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