Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin Offers Insights on China Pull-Out
By Chris Weiss
So long as you didn’t just wake up from a four-year coma, you know all about Google’s decision to cease operation of its China search engine and redirect Chinese users (hopefully) through Hong Kong. The New York Times’ Steve Lohr had the opportunity to get a few words of wisdom from Google co-founder Sergey Brin on the decision and what happens next, and Brin offered a peak behind the scenes.
Brin said that it’s unclear whether China is content with the decision to move searches to Hong Kong. He stated simply in the interview: “There was a sense that Hong Kong was the right step.” Brin went on to say that the tale isn’t over yet, and it’s not certain whether China will allow Hong Kong operations to continue unimpeded.
Brin, who is particularly sensitive to censorship due to his Soviet upbringing, sees the move by Google as one step toward a more open Internet in China. He stated: “I think that in the long term, they are going to have to open.”
What happens next is in Beijing’s arena. [via Bits] [Photo: jurvetson]
