[Brain_Thief]

As a lifelong US citizen I have to say that, while I want the best for the Chinese people in every respect, I believe it is fairly obvious that any expansion of the Chinese government's power would be bad for the world (specifically w.r.t. human rights). Many people in this thread seem to be advocating for the abandonment of the West's moral aspirations based upon the idea that a censored Google being available in China is the best thing for Chinese citizens. To me, this perspective seems to be incorrect and and strangely myopic. If we accept the premise (and not everyone here will) that the moral aspirations of the west point toward a more human-centric and democratic global future than those of the Chinese government, then it follows that individuals concerned with the human condition must not support an expansion of Chinese government power in the name of short-term corporate profit. Essentially, anything that increases the efficiency of the Chinese government, or lessens the pain of government censorship, increases that government's power and its ability to enact its goals and is therefore a net negative both for Chinese citizens and for the world. Providing censorship-friendly versions of western technology to non-democratic countries may be in the short-term best interests of the subjugated populations of said countries (and other parties such as shareholders), but that strategy is undeniably in the long-term worst interests of the world and its peoples.