Have you used Google overseas? In some places, you cannot get to google.com and are forced to use the google.co.(fillinthecountryhere) site.
Which is kind of my point. Google claims that Google.com is unavailable in China about 10% of the time. During those times, having Google.cn will give the Chinese people an option. It enhances their freedom.
What the anti-Google side seems to overlook is that the alternative is no Google at all. How this helps the Chinese people escapes me. They're only looking at it as a cooperative project between Google and the Chinese government, and leaving the Chinese people out of their calculations.