Google's dispute with the Chinese government has taught us a lot about modern China. The disagreement was sparked by the company's January decision to stop filtering Internet searches by its Chinese users and could lead to the closure of Google's Chinese search engine, or perhaps an even more drastic withdrawal from China. (An announcement from Google could come this week.) The case has exposed the myth that China is a great place to do business for foreign companies. Google's step also moves China closer to having a “different” Internet than the rest of the world, one dominated by Chinese companies and policed by the Chinese government.
China's leadership doesn't appear to care much about the impact of Google's possible departure. But should they? The Google case begs a fundamental question about China's future:
Is there a connection between human rights and economic progress?
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