NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL:… Google is among the Western technology companies that have refused to bow to China’s idea of “Internet sovereignty,” which includes sharing information on users with the government. The company moved its servers out of China in 2010, and all of its services — including its search function — were shut down in China in the crackdown on foreign Internet services in the months leading up to the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests.
Though there is no solid evidence that China blocked Gmail, or indications of why it might have, the fact is that China faces a dilemma in dealing with Western information giants. The free flow of information and the potential for quick popular mobilization through social networks are anathema to the authoritarian state, and China has gone to great lengths to control what comes in.
But as a rapidly developing economic powerhouse, China also needs the instant communications, quick research and management tools of the technology giants. Gmail is especially popular with Chinese doing business with Western companies, and many publicly complained about the interruption. The technology companies, for their part, salivate at the vast and rich Chinese market but bridle at the control and censorship China demands as the price for participating… (more)
