Well, it's early in the new year, and already China is exerting its' significant global economic influence, by putting the brakes somewhat on its' burgeoning economy. That makes Google's announcement earlier this week, that due to hacking on its' Chinese web center, possibly government condoned, it was removing previously agreed to blocking of "sensitive or inappropriate material" on its search engine, that much more interesting. Google also intimated that unless a more business friendly climate was created by the government, it would pull out of China altogether. I must admit, that takes cojones. Google was at best, 30% of the share, but obviously was a significant thorn in the side of the Chinese search engine, Baidu.
So, after reading the above installment of "Pearls Before Swine", I couldn't help but make a little alteration. I think sensitivity to local cultural sensitivities and mores is a must in international business, but China also must realize that you can't expect companies to tolerate bullying, and that you can't expect such a large, educated population to have Tianamen Square blocked from their collective consciousness forever.
No comments:
Post a Comment