I should be less surprised to have to say this than I am: Google’s trials in China have nothing whatsoever to do with censorship. In spite of the often breathless accounts of Google’s fight against the Empire, this is not a David and Goliath hero story. When the issue was censorship or the Great Firewall of China, Google made their choice: sell, sell, sell.
I’m not as altogether opposed to that decision as I know many on both the Right and the Left are. I am of a persuasion that believes that the more money and the more power flows through a society, the more inevitably free that society becomes. At least, to a point. It is certainly self-evident in China’s case that controlling information is a cornerstone of a closed society.
But that is all water under the bridge. The issue before us now is not one of censorship, but of politico-industrial espionage. Threatening to lower the firewalls on Google.cn’s service is merely Google’s way of putting pressure on the Chinese government where it hurts. Google found evidence it claims as fairly indisputable that China launched attacks on the email accounts of Gmail users as well as 34 other companies. The Gmail users were apparently dissidents within and without China’s borders.
For Google, this is a classic pocketbook issue: maintaining the security of Gmail accounts is paramount to maintaining the viability of that revenue source. It is also true that Gmail accounts are tied to a host of other Google products, from Google Docs to Google Talk, iGoogle and many others. The security issue flows well outside the email system and compromises Google’s entire empire right down to the fledgling Android OS.
For the US, currently catching heat from the press for remaining silent on the issue, this is an extremely complex issue for which rash, Bush-era responses are ill-fitted. While many in this country would like to consider China an enemy and weave paranoid stories of conquest, the truth is much stickier. They are certainly a chief rival in a world with a sizable power vacuum – political and economic. They could quickly become an enemy, but for now and in public, they are not.
Plus, every country worth it’s salt is messing around with Cyber-spying. We can’t possibly have clean hands, nor really is it in our national interest to be so driven-snow pure. Throwing stones is not in anyone’s interest, either. Let’s not forget that the Internet’s first iteration was the ARPANet, a wholly military-scientific enterprise of the United States’ design.
But I think that, in the wake of an eight-year administration, our media gets used to a certain way of doing things at the White House. Doubtless the Bush Administration would have had some bellicose words about “Freedom” and “Democracy” within moments of hearing of the suspected attack. I think we can all agree, upon reflection, that’s just stupid.
Some events really paint a picture of the world we live in. One such event may regrettably be the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. As the games get closer, all the problems come home to roost and things are getting plenty nutty over there. The Chinese seem barely capable of keeping things together.
First of all, the story I’ve been tracking in the News blog for some time now, the smog. It seems that many countries including the U.S. are opting to train and keep their athletes miles away from Beijing, where they can be safe. I saw a report last night where a marathon cyclist described experiencing athsma-like symptoms while training in-country. The Chinese have taken the unusual and totalitarian step of shutting down highway traffic, industrial production and all things smog related while the games commence, but it is of little use.
At the same time, a group of Internet freedom activists have developed a suite of tools that Chinese crackers can use to bypass The Great Firewall of China, the name given to the highly-restricted control of the Internet that China employs on its people. And in seemingly unrelated news, . .
The ethnic Uighars, an often seperatist group of predominantly Muslim people living within the Chinese borders, yesterday began attacks they vow to continue and escalate during the games. In response, the Chinese police quarantined the province and cut off Internet connections. They’re also in the habit of beating up journalists who stray too far into restricted territories, it seems. Other groups have claimed to have successfully planted and detonated some small explosive devices in Yunan province.
And when’s the last time you recall surface-to-air missles deployed to an Olympic Games? I’m sure its happened before, but I’ve never heard about it.
Did anyone even know there was such a thing as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization? I certainly didn’t. It seems the Organization is yet another multi-national pacts, though this one is less like the EU and more like NATO.
Well, it turns out that this group includes China (duh), Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. Nations looking to join this group include our buddies Iran and Pakistan. The admission or denial of these states is at least one item on the agenda for their current meeting, happening right now. There are concerns, as one might expect, about the United States’ response to adding those members in what is at least on paper an alliance of military proportions.
It might be illuminating, when viewing world affairs, to keep this coalition in mind. For a start, it’s worth considering the fact that neither Iran nor Pakistan feels compelled to join in any similar coaltions with Middle Eastern nations. . . because of course, they are ethnically and historically separate regions.
As if Myanmar hadn’t already stretched relief efforts to the brink, as if the storms in the Mid West United States had not occupied our minds enough, now an earthquake in China has buried 900 students in a tremor that rocked all of Asia. Scary times. Say a prayer for the stricken.
You can survive for one hour. One hour only, but that aught to be enough. We’ve got scientists crunching the numbers.
“Oh, smashing news,” you say. “Hang on. Survive where? The moon?” No, Beijing, the world’s most polluted city, which is hosting the Olympic Games. Now, get out there and compete:
Athletes safe in Beijing air for up to an hour: IOC | Reuters
International Olympic Committee scientists have proved that Beijing’s air will present no health risk to athletes competing for up to an hour at the 2008 Games, IOC chief inspector Hein Verbruggen said on Wednesday.
China Daily is trumpeting the recent Google China statistics that point out that on the search giant’s Chinese language site, the names of a few banks and the keyword “stocks” beat out the word “sex.” Isn’t that a hoot?:
“Stock” beats “sex” on Google China | Top News | Reuters.com
“On the Chinese mainland, it was money and technology that took the honors last year,” the China Daily said, pointing out that “sex” was the most popular keyword for Google users in some other countries.
Really? Hmm. Wonder if in “some other countries,” Google filters results or reports search queries to the government? Because I’m thinking that might have something to do with the statistical differences. . .
