Google's decision to pull out of China has prompted mixed reactions from Chinese citizens and government officials.
Some people placed flowers on the Google sign at its Beijing headquarters in a sign of mourning, and sympathetic bloggers spoke up for the American company. The Chinese government asserted its right to maintain the Internet according to the country's legislation and rules.
Google, which is only the third biggest Internet company in China's massive market, has agreed to voluntary limits on content since 2006. That included blocking searches for anything related to the 1989 crackdown in Tiananmen Square, the exiled Dalai Lama, or the banned Falun Gong protest group. However, Google's stance changed in January after its e-mail service was targeted by hackers.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/video/blog/2010/03/google_pulls_out_of_china.html
Answer the following questions in your post:
1. What kind of government does China have?
2. What does Internet freedom mean?
3. What is censorship?
4. Do you think Google made the right move by pulling out of China? Why/why not?
5. What kinds of online content do you think the Chinese government wants to censor, and why?
6. Why did Google choose Hong Kong as the new base for its servers? How does Hong Kong differ from the rest of China?
7. How does this debate about Google in China reflect larger ideological disagreements between China and the U.S.? How do the two countries' governments and beliefs differ from one another?
