In my column yesterday about the Google and China mess, I explored how this rift could affect Silicon Valley’s relationship with China. But within the column, I also included this thought:
“The conventional wisdom that has been shattered was based on a kind of digital utopianism prevalent throughout Silicon Valley. This line of thinking holds that the Internet, and Web-based services like Google, Twitter and Facebook, are liberating forces. Maybe it would take five years, maybe a couple of decades, but over time as more Chinese gained access and technology, there would be the inevitable dismantling of cultural, economic and political barriers.”
That spurred some discussions on Twitter and got me thinking more about that idea. By coincidence, I was catching up this morning on my backlog of TED videos, when a talk by Evgeny Morozov came up called: “How the ‘Net aids dictatorships.” The talk is summarized as:
“TED Fellow and journalist Evgeny Morozov punctures what he calls “iPod liberalism” — the assumption that tech innovation always promotes freedom, democracy — with chilling examples of ways the Internet helps oppressive regimes stifle dissent.”
Morozov’s talk got me thinking more about this subject.
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Hewlett-Packard announced plans to occupy an “advanced manufacturing complex” in West China to both “serve the fast-growing Chinese market and accelerate economic development in the region,” according to a press release put out today by the world’s biggest manufacturer of personal computers. HP plans to make “”state-of-the-art notebook and desktop PCs” at the 20,000-square-meter facility in Chongqing (its skyline at night is pictured) starting in 2010.
Chongqing is one of the fastest growing cities in China, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, which put its GDP last year at $410 billion with a growth rate of 15.6 percent over the prior year. The city has 500,000 university students and more than 1,000 research and development institutions.
“In addition to the educated work force, development conditions offered by the local government made the development attractive to HP,” said the company.
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