So most people know about the trade tariff war between President Trump and China. But now, Vice-President Mike Pence gets involved. Pence asks Google and China to break up.
He said this to the Hudson Institute yesterday. Yes, the trade conflict is a factor. However, Pence talked about China’s oppressive censorship issues, especially online. Google plans on making a mobile Google just for China. Also, they’re even working with China on this. That doesn’t sit well with Pence. Because Pence openly criticized China about? their Internet restrictions. But he didn’t stop there.
In his speech, he named names. He praised other companies for skipping over the Chinese market and, “abetting Beijing’s oppression”. Then he called on other major corporations to do the same. That’s when he literally called out Google. Specifically, Pence asks Google to end anymore development of the Dragonfly app. Because the Vice-President worries will strengthen China’s Communist Party’s already strict censorship. His concerns also include privacy rights of Chinese citizens. If you don’t know what Dragonfly does, it’s their version of the search engine that bans Twitter and Facebook. But why would any engine want to ban Twitter and Facebook? They’re two of the most popular websites in the globe.
That’s because Twitter and Facebook are banned in China. But of course, many in that nation find a way to get it anyway. To that, I say good for them. China also blocks historic tragedies like the?Tiananmen Square massacre (I wonder why). I must say. On the surface, these motives look good. IT support and IT services like social media should be open and free by all governments. I wouldn’t want any company to help anybody nation who is pushing censorship. So I like the message. But what worries me here is motive. Does Pence really care about censorship in China? Or is this a way to fight the trade war on China?