The reports from Beijing of signs of popular Chinese sympathy with Google’s threat to pull out of the country, in protest at censorship, are fascinating. I wonder whether those photos of wreaths being laid outside Google headquarters in Beijing, could one day be as famous as the statue of liberty photos, taken in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Ironically, perhaps the best way of monitoring Chinese reaction to the Google story is on the internet itself – which has become the main forum for a snapshot of relatively uncensored Chinese opinion. Those who reckon that the Chinese people are even more nationalistic than the government often cite the rabid tone of much popular internet commentary on issues like Taiwan and Tibet. So what is a Chinese nationalist to do – torn between a love of the internet and a love of his native country?
In search of a semi-official view of the dispute, I went to the web-site of the Global Times, a Chinese paper with an English-language edition and a reputation for nationalism. There is no mention of the Google story, which is interesting in itself. Instead, the front-page splash is headlined “US-Taiwan Missile Deal irks Beijing” – and there is an accompanying commentary, headlined “Let US feel heat of public anger on missile deal“.
I am sure that the Chinese government will be absolutely enraged by Google’s actions. But I suspect they will not vent their anger directly on the company – at least, not initially – partly because there might be public sympathy in China (particularly among netizens) for Google’s attack on censorship. On the other hand, it might suit the government to react to the Google row by stirring up a little nationalist and anti-American sentiment on another front. What better issue than Taiwan?
For views and opinions on the European Union from Peter Spiegel, Joshua Chaffin, Alex Barker and Stanley Pignal, follow the 