.

Limited Comment: I cannot speak about politically sensitive issues and this is a big one and I want to respect the contract I have at CEIBS. My individual rights to speak, as with Chinese citizens, are subject to the human rights of the society as a whole. In the words of some Chinese business academics: “For Chinese people, group interests and relationship building override individual concerns and self-actualisation.” * This difference goes to the heart of misunderstandings between Chinese and Western understandings of Human Rights (see my Blog: "Mr Wen wants 'mutual trust' with Canada" 09.12.09).

All I can say, is that it is hard to imagine the strength of feeling expressed across the Chinese media who quote "netizens" in the US and China condemning Google for closing down its operations in China on issues of internet freedom. Here is one example from a columnist in today's China Daily:
"Does Google have such freedom in the United States? It certainly doesn't. Then why does this company want to have its own way in China? There is no reason for the Chinese government to allow Google to do whatever it wants to do simply because it is an American company."

* Kit-Fai Pun, Kwai-Sang Chine and Henry Lau, 2000, “A review of the Chinese cultural influences on Chinese enterprise management”, International Journal of Management Reviews, 2:4, p.331