Well done to Google for standing up to China. In the Copenhagen negotiations and then more recently in the dispute with Britain over the execution of the mentally ill British national, Akmal Shaikh, China has been intent on proving what we knew but chose to ignore before: that it doesn't have to bow to anyone. In times gone by the only country in any position (economically if not necessarily morally) to exert any pressure on China has been the United States but now that China holds over 800 billion dollars in US foreign debt the Obama administration finds its hands, if not tied, then not quite as flexible as it would like. And what is true for the US is true in other ways for every government - China is such an important trade power that they are loathe to criticise it too overtly, or if they do criticise it they are unlikely to follow up with any sanctions for fear of China taking retaliatory measures. This was clear in the Shaikh case - the UK fustigated and fumed but ultimately did nothing. So it is nice to see a private company like Google step in where states fear to tread. Doubtless Google carried out a thorough analysis of the financial consequences of their decision - the lost revenues in China will presumably be compensated for by some serious PR points at a moment when the search engine is coming in for a lot of criticism for its monopolistic tendencies and disregard for authors' rights - but in business as in politics there are no pure decisions so kudos to Google for taking a stand.