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.
The element in this is: China does not have to change.
Instead of the usual way of first changing your ways and then we reward you, the Chinese get the pass of we change to adopt to them.
So for the Chinese gov't they win again. They know once again we will lower our standards to comply.
What is the incentive for the Chinese to change? None.
Let me try to explain it to you in plain English. In order to help persuade the cowardly execs at Google to stop kowtowing to Red Communist criminals, they should be made to feel economic pain by being forced to embargo the Red Communist PRC "market." The ability or non ability of people in China to Google (even using the lame google.cn) does not factor in any way into the calculus.