Can China live without Google?
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The media's mass coverage of Google's retreat from China showcased a war between the biggest search engine company and the biggest Internet market in the world. The Washington Post issued a report on Friday with the headline, "For Chinese people, loss of Google would mean nothing but darkness", which shows the deeply embedded ideology behind the curtain.
According to the report, Google, which has taken a one-third share in the Chinese Internet market, has become deeply rooted in the country and is now a necessity. It said if China refuses to make compromise to Google, it would become marginalized and be an outcast in the world.
The report is interesting. If Google has generated such a compelling power in China, big enough to leave the country fumble in the dark after its retreat, the thing definitely can be regarded as a shocking cultural clash between the West and the East and the Chinese government cannot afford to sit by and watch.
The Reform and Opening-up policy in China has been carried out for 30 years since 1979, with earlier icons like Coca-Cola, and later McDonald's, KFC and Starbucks Coffee.
The incoming Western goods also brought Western cultures and lifestyles. For instance, the biggest Internet retailer Amazon named its service in China Zhuoyue (excellence).
The albums of the US pop star Lady Gaga and Britain's talent Susan Boyle fly off the CD shelves in China.
All commodities come with some cultures and ideologies. China definitely is influenced by the West, but the influence is mutual. People of a certain culture learn to know a different new thing, but the new thing also has to learn to suit its new customers. That's why KFC serves Chinese porridge and McDonald's provides Chinese food menus here.
It all shows that China never rejects Western culture, but not all Hollywood movies will be a hit in China like "Avatar".
Google arrived in China in 2005; it got its Chinese name "Gu Ge" and Chinese domain name Google.cn the next year. Google then made some compromises to adjust to a different business environment. However, it tried to change the rules after it had gained an "irreplaceable" position in China, i.e. demanding the Chinese government change Internet regulations at their request. Google was confident that China would make some concessions.
Google thought it has already "dominated" many Chinese people's lives, no matter how many more Chinese use Baidu, a local search engine.
