The U.S. government is going to say something to China about the Google situation. They are going to express concern about the “cyber-attacks” that have brought up the issue of Google leaving China and ending business matters there.

"We will be issuing a formal demarche to the Chinese government in Beijing on this issue in the coming days, probably early next week. It will express our concern for this incident and request information from China as to an explanation of how it happened and what they plan to do about it," said P.J. Crowley, U.S. State Department spokesman.

A demarche is a formal, written message directly from a diplomat to a government- so we are saying we are upset for real.

There are several implications this makes me think about-

1.    Government & Business- Of course the two are inextricably linked, as has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt by the recent financial crisis and the need for tax and stimulus incentives just to keep the economy moving. But except for the controversial and annoying “pay czar” Feinberg, is the government really telling businesses what to do on a micro-level in the U.S.? Well, there are a lot of restrictions based on the Constitution and laws or traditions that have evolved. What if China got angry because the U.S. government would not allow a prayer in some places? I mean, there are far less restrictions on anything in the U.S., but is it the U.S.’s job to impose our government-backed freedoms onto the business world? I think the slope is slippery, and we don’t need to be telling the Chinese government how to deal with foreign countries in their marketplace unless we want them telling us how to do the same.

2.    Google as a Business- Google is not special. Yes, they are amazingly successful and are rivaling Apple for tech innovation and influence. But they are not too cool for school in the business world of China- in effect, China is telling them go take a hike if you can’t play by the rules- we’ve got our own search engine and we don’t really need you, we tolerate you. And China is right- Google is a business fighting for market-share, not a Chinese resistance movement. “Don’t do evil” is their slogan, but that’s not quite the same as “Fight for good and the American way.” Google would be wise to understand their place. Should they choose to become an agent of resistance and freedom in foreign countries, well, I’m all for it- but don’t do it on accident under the guise of fighting for free speech in China. There is no free speech in China, Google.

3.    China’s Government- We have already seen the powerful control the government in China has over the press- they have been releasing their version of the events at Copenhagen, have watched them jump ahead in the green tech revolution, and watched them secure goods and raw materials in Africa. Now we are watching them define their own future in the realm of the internet. And there is no international law that says everyone should be able to access everything all the time on the internet.

4.    Internet- Through the Looking Glass. I work on the internet mostly so why shouldn’t I be up in arms about China’s restrictions? Well, because it may just be that our American concept of the Internet isn’t going to become the standard- the Internet isn’t run like anything else in America anyway. Any other media outlet has tons of restrictions on language, nudity, and content- on the Internet you just click a button and say you’re 18 and you can do whatever you want. Or read about whatever you want- is that a fundamental right? It never has been, until the 90’s, even an expectation. It was always something to fight for, and now that we have won those rights and fights within our own borders, will we begin fighting for freedom of speech in other countries?

In the end, it’s a slippery slope. In my opinion, there is no reason for the U.S. government to get involved, and Google shouldn’t try to change China’s government policy unless it is part of a much larger, international media movement to change the laws in China. That would basically mean toppling Communism. And if Google wants to become the head of an online army battling with China over information accessibility, well, that’s their call. For business, though, it’s not a good investment.

Photo Credit: googlelisti (via Flickr under CCL)