As the Nexus One wins the hearts and minds of just about everyone who has had a chance to try it, Google was planning to spread the good word of Android to developers in Hong Kong and Taiwan, but have backed out of their plans to visit Beijing.
You might recall that Google was a little unhappy with China after being the victim of a cyberattack apparently originating from the government there, and have not only postponed the launch of Android devices in the area, but have even threatened to shut down their offices and Chinese search engine. Google’s hesitancy to do anything in China could mean bad news for Android in one of the world’s juiciest mobile markets, but manufacturing partners like Sony Ericsson are entirely happy to keep doing business in the region.
The next couple of months are likely to become increasingly standoffish between these two massive entities. On the one hand, the Chinese government has their rules, and you either play by them, or bugger off and do business somewhere else. The problem is, one of Google’s “Ten Things” is that information needs to cross all borders, which is a standard they have already bent by censoring Chinese Google search results in the past, and since reneged. How do y’all think this mess will look once the dust has settled?
[via Reuters]