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Even if Google’s stand against censorship leads it to close its search engine in China, the company still hopes to maintain other key operations in the world’s most populous Internet market.<\/p>\n
\nGoogle Inc. is in delicate negotiations with the Chinese government to keep its research center in China, an advertising sales team that generates most of the company’s revenue in the country and a fledgling mobile phone business.<\/p>\n
\nBoth sides are torn by conflicting objectives.<\/p>\n
\nGoogle says it’s no longer willing to acquiesce to the Chinese government’s demands for censored search results, yet it still wants access to the country’s engineering talent and steadily growing online advertising and mobile phone markets.<\/p>\n
\nChinese leaders are determined to control the flow of information, but realize they need rich and innovative companies such as Google to achieve their goal of establishing the country as a technology leader. Even some Chinese media that rarely deviate from the party line have warned that Google’s departure could slow technology development and hurt China’s economy.<\/p>\n
\nAnalysts are split on how the current impasse will be resolved, with some resigned to Google having to pull completely out of China for the foreseeable future while others envision a face-saving compromise that preserves a toehold in the country for the company.<\/p>\n
\nRobert Broadfoot, managing director of Political and Economic Risk Consultancy in Hong Kong, is among the camp that expects Communist leaders to bend their rules to keep Google in the country.<\/p>\n
\n“They’re hardly going to close the door on the innovator. They are very interested in what (Google is) innovating, because they may want it for themselves,” said Broadfoot, who has advised companies on China since the 1970s.<\/p>\n
\nGoogle said Jan. 12 it might close its China-based search engine, Google.cn, because it no longer intends to censor the results as it has for the past four years…. <\/p>\n
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