Breaking news out of Google Headquarters indicates that the company may exit China. Google said it may leave the country after the company was hit by cyber attacks that originated in China.

(Side Note: The 60 Second Marketer is censored in China because our site is heavy with video content. We love the Chinese people and we love the Chinese culture, but we’re definitely not fans of the thugs running the country.)

According to the Wall Street Journal, investigators are probing whether the attack is linked to the Chinese government or intelligence services. Google said it suffered a “highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China.” The hackers were allegedly trying to access the Gmail accounts of human rights activists.

All this brings up a larger issue, which is whether or not a country that suppresses its citizens can flourish in a 21st century global economy. There have been reports that the 21st century is the Chinese century, but those reports ignore two important facts:

1. Despite the scope of China’s economy, it’s still dwarfed by the U.S. economy. In fact, the U.S. GDP is four times greater than the Chinese GDP. This ratio will change over time, but China has a lot of catching up to do before it even comes close to U.S. economic power.
2. No country that suppresses its citizens — not a single one — will ever become an economic superpower. Just look at the Soviet Union. Or at the 20th century version of Communist China. They’re remnants of a bygone era because they didn’t allow their citizens the freedom to speak, innovate or think.

I’m not against China. In fact, I’m 100% IN FAVOR OF CHINA BECOMING A MORE ACTIVE MEMBER OF THE GLOBAL ECONOMY. But as long as the Chinese government suppresses its citizens, it will never be the global superpower it has the potential to be.

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010, 11:27 am   |   Google  |  RSS feed |  Respond  |  Trackback