{"id":209386,"date":"2018-10-17T23:29:00","date_gmt":"2018-10-18T06:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=209386"},"modified":"2018-12-05T17:08:04","modified_gmt":"2018-12-06T01:08:04","slug":"badiucao-%e5%b7%b4%e4%b8%a2%e8%8d%89-google-ceo-defends-china-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2018\/10\/badiucao-%e5%b7%b4%e4%b8%a2%e8%8d%89-google-ceo-defends-china-plans\/","title":{"rendered":"Badiucao (\u5df4\u4e22\u8349): Google CEO Defends China Plans"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the WIRED 25 Summit on Monday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai commented on the company’s plans, codenamed Project Dragonfly, to return to China<\/strong><\/a> with a new search engine. Its prospective accommodation of official censorship and surveillance<\/a> has sparked vocal protests both within and outside Google<\/a>. Pichai defended the plans while swiping at prospective competitor Baidu and its past medical scandals<\/a>. From Nitasha Tiku at Wired:<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt turns out we’ll be able to serve well over 99 percent of the queries,\u201d that users request. What\u2019s more, \u201cThere are many, many areas where we would provide information better than what’s available,\u201d such as searching for cancer treatments, Pichai said. “Today people either get fake cancer treatments or they actually get useful information.\u201d<\/p>\n

While onstage at the event, Pichai did not back away from Google\u2019s controversial decision to build a censored search engine in China. In fact, he doubled down on the search engine, codenamed Project Dragonfly, saying the potential to expose the world to more information is guiding Google\u2019s push into China. \u201cWe are compelled by our mission [to] provide information to everyone, and [China is] 20 percent of the world’s population.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pichai was careful to emphasize that this was a decision that weighs heavy on the company. \u201cPeople don’t understand fully, but you’re always balancing a set of values,\u201d in every new country, he said. Those values include providing access to information, freedom of expression, and user privacy. \u201cBut we also follow the rule of law in every country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

This is a reversal of a decision from about eight years, when Google pulled its search engine, which was also censored, from the Chinese market. Pichai said the time had come to reevaluate that choice. \u201cIt’s a wonderful, innovative market. We wanted to learn what it would look like if we were in China, so that’s what we built internally,\u201d Pichai said. \u201cGiven how important the market is and how many users there are,\u201d he added, \u201cwe feel obliged to think hard about this problem and take a longer-term view.\u201d [Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Cartoonist Badiucao responded:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

On Twitter, he announced that actual, physical “MWGA” hats had been delivered to Google’s headquarters in Mountain View by Tiananmen student leader Zhou Fengsuo:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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hi @sundarpichai<\/a>, special designed #MWGA<\/a> caps were delivered to @Google<\/a> Headquarters for your great supporting to Chinese censorship. Have you received my gift yet\uff1f#MakeWallGreatAgain<\/a> #dragonfly<\/a> #GFW<\/a>
\u672c\u5468\u9001\u5230\u8c37\u6b4c\u603b\u90e8\u7684\u5e3d\u5b50\uff0c\u795d\u8d3a\u8c37\u6b4c\u91cd\u8fd4\u4e2d\u56fd\uff0c\u518d\u52a9\u9632\u706b\u957f\u57ce\u3002\u5927\u5bb6\u7a00\u996d\u561b\uff1f pic.twitter.com\/nPCguaErIR<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 \u5df4\u4e22\u8349 Badiucao (@badiucao) October 17, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He followed up with thanks to Zhou for his “support and delivering service,”<\/a> pointing out that “this project will also [be] presented<\/a> in my first solo exhibition in Hong Kong<\/a>. [\u2026] if Google really wants to help China<\/a> [\u2026] it should concentrate on developing and promoting software which help Chinese defeat the Chinese internet filter and censorship instead of becoming a good looking block of the wall.”<\/p>\n

Pichai is not alone in arguing that Google’s reentry could benefit Chinese users. From Yufan Huang, formerly at The New York Times, for example:<\/p>\n

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I hope Google can get back to China, even just the censored version. Given that Baidu really sucks, a censored Google can be a great help to information flow within China, and btw China and the outside world. I don't know if it helps democracy, but it undermines brainwashing.<\/p>\n

— Yufan Huang (@georgetoparis) October 13, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n