Google - China conflict

It has been a week since the controversy over censorship between Google and China has created waves of anger amongst netizens. It is unanimous response that its not Google that is withdrawing with China, it is China that is withdrawing from the world.

Conflict has been sparkled after Chinese attempts to penetrate the Gmail accounts of dissidents who oppose Chinese government policies.

It is foregone understanding that China has a great firewall in the internet that censors anything detrimental to government policies and decisions.

Some inferences we can make from this conflict about significant changes in China:

The first is that China is increasingly devoted to cyber warfare against western influences in the internet, a cheap way to counter U.S.'s traditional military force power. Should the two countries face off in battle one day, China may easily disrupt electrical systems and military communications easily.

The second point is that China is drawing a clear line between openness and economic efficiency. Mr Hu Jing Tao seemed to be straying from Mr Deng Xiao Ping's ideals, and censoring open information sharing on the web so Chinese will not be affected and influenced by Western culture and ideals.

Many have expressed anger over China's persistence in censoring of certain information, and Google's exit from China. This means a another big step backwards in the road of moving towards globalization.

Although it is ultimately the Communist Party's final say that counts in the short-term, for the long-run, I will put my money on Google.