> As I see it the choice is to either do what Google is doing, which means being involved, staying relevant, and making a few bucks along the way, or to stay aw

> As I see it the choice is to either do what Google is doing, which means being involved, staying relevant, and making a few bucks along the way, or to stay away. In the latter case the only result will be diminished influence for Google and by extension the USA, as that won't damage China at all, it will just leave the door open for new Chinese tech giants. In the former case it means increased influence of China's authoritarian government over an important western company that billions use to learn about the world. China has already used the implied threat to the Chinese operations of several American airlines to force them to make political changes to their global websites (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-44948599 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-44948599). What do you think will happen if China asks Google to make changes to the results ranking for this query (https://www.google.com/search?q=tibet https://www.google.com/search?q=tibet), so that it can continue "to share China's development opportunities [and] invest in and operate in China?" There are a couple of links on the first page I'm sure the Chinese government would say do not "respect China's laws and rules, China's sovereignty and territorial integrity and the feelings of the Chinese people."