Cheshire Cat Photo Blog(...said the Cat: 'we're all mad here....')

– “An ancient Vulcan proverb….” – Spock, “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country”

At the time, many of us said, “They can keep him.”

Perhaps, only Google can leave China and stay there at the same time.

Today, Google quit censoring search results in China. This was probably the most significant California-related event of the day.

At 3:03 PM EDT, Google said on its official blog that it stopped running the censored Google.cn service and was routing its Chinese users to an uncensored version of Google (Google.com.hk) in Hong Kong. Google also created a new web site that they will update regularly each day, so that everyone can see which Google services are available in China.

Early reports from China suggested that the Chinese government has started to restrict access to Google’s site in Hong Kong, according to Eddan Katz, International Affairs Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Hong Kong, of course IS China, since the former British colony was handed over to the Chinese mainland after the lease expired in 1997. However, Hong Kong operates with some autonomy and has a free press.

China, for its part, stated that Google’s decision to stop censoring its China Web site “violated its written promise” and was “totally wrong.”

“This is totally wrong. We’re uncompromisingly opposed to the politicization of commercial issues, and express our discontent and indignation to Google for its unreasonable accusations and conducts,” according to China Daily, a state-run media organization, quoting an unnamed official from the Internet bureau under the State Council Information Office.

David Drummond, Google’s chief legal officer, wrote, “In terms of Google’s wider business operations, we intend to continue R&D work in China and also to maintain a sales presence there, though the size of the sales team will obviously be partially dependent on the ability of mainland Chinese users to access Google.com.hk.”

In a week in which Google is expected to announce its large, fast “pipe” to Asia, it’s “moral compass,” embodied in its slogan, “don’t be evil,” seems to be well aligned with its business goals.

-Bill at

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