http://www.tapsns.com/blog/index.php/2010/07/the-untold-story-of-google-in-china/ Mark Anderson Strategic News Service Sun, 16 Jan 2011 14:38:39 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.tapsns.com/blog/index.php/2010/07/the-untold-story-of-google-in-china/comment-page-1/#comment-2522 Dennis Tracz Fri, 20 Aug 2010 16:04:59 +0000 http://www.tapsns.com/blog/?p=1092#comment-2522 Over time these silly little games will become irrelevant. Innovation and creativity beat the heavy hand of dull bureaucrats every time. Over time these silly little games will become irrelevant. Innovation and creativity beat the heavy hand of dull bureaucrats every time.

]]> http://www.tapsns.com/blog/index.php/2010/07/the-untold-story-of-google-in-china/comment-page-1/#comment-2482 Leslie Helm Mon, 12 Jul 2010 16:37:29 +0000 http://www.tapsns.com/blog/?p=1092#comment-2482 I covered Japan for Business Week during the early 1980s and for the Los Angeles Times during the early 1990s. The U.S. really cracked down on Japanese efforts to favor their local companies including companies in the critical communications and semiconductor sectors. Japan responded by allowing the U.S. more access to the market. The U.S. is clearly a lot more hesitant to apply the same kind of pressure to China. The assumption has always been that our dependence on Chinese capital and the importance of their market reduces our leverage. Yet, China is far more dependent on the U.S. market than the reverse. Many observers say China will change over time. Yet, if anything, China's leverage is likely to increase as it moves up the value chain. With Japan, the U.S. simply passed trade bills that created strong incentives for Japan to change. The U.S. may hav little choice but to make a similar move. There is the danger of a trade war, of course. And these kinds of moves must be done without the ridiculous theatrics that accompanies the measures against Japan and which raised nationalist ire against the U.S. But failing to face up to this issue now will make it tougher in the future on a range of issues from market access to the protection of intellectual property. Of course China will begin to protect IP when its companies start having technology to protect. But that may be too late. When even the CEO of General Electric starts to complain about China in public, you know that we are reaching a critical point. I only hope whatever measures our country takes, they are well thought out and not framed in the emotional terms of a trade war but are framed as incentives for China to change. I covered Japan for Business Week during the early 1980s and for the Los Angeles Times during the early 1990s. The U.S. really cracked down on Japanese efforts to favor their local companies including companies in the critical communications and semiconductor sectors. Japan responded by allowing the U.S. more access to the market.
The U.S. is clearly a lot more hesitant to apply the same kind of pressure to China. The assumption has always been that our dependence on Chinese capital and the importance of their market reduces our leverage. Yet, China is far more dependent on the U.S. market than the reverse. Many observers say China will change over time. Yet, if anything, China’s leverage is likely to increase as it moves up the value chain.
With Japan, the U.S. simply passed trade bills that created strong incentives for Japan to change. The U.S. may hav little choice but to make a similar move. There is the danger of a trade war, of course. And these kinds of moves must be done without the ridiculous theatrics that accompanies the measures against Japan and which raised nationalist ire against the U.S. But failing to face up to this issue now will make it tougher in the future on a range of issues from market access to the protection of intellectual property. Of course China will begin to protect IP when its companies start having technology to protect. But that may be too late.
When even the CEO of General Electric starts to complain about China in public, you know that we are reaching a critical point. I only hope whatever measures our country takes, they are well thought out and not framed in the emotional terms of a trade war but are framed as incentives for China to change.

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