Is Google Setting the Stage for a New China Policy?

The blog world is buzzing today with quotes from an Associated Press story that features Sergey Brin talking about Google's decision to do business in China and to agree to restrictions that would be placed on them by the Chinese government. Many are using the article as proof that Google is going to do an about face and pull out of China, but I read it more as a "let's just say we're leaving our options open" kind of thing.

From the article:

Meeting with reporters near Capitol Hill, Brin said Google had agreed to the censorship demands only after Chinese authorities blocked its service in that country. Google's rivals accommodated the same demands — which Brin described as "a set of rules that we weren't comfortable with" — without international criticism, he said.

"We felt that perhaps we could compromise our principles but provide ultimately more information for the Chinese and be a more effective service and perhaps make more of a difference," Brin said.

Google's China-approved Web service omits politically sensitive information that might be retrieved during Internet searches, such as details about the 1989 suppression of political unrest in Tiananmen Square. Its agreement with China has provoked considerable criticism from human rights groups.

"Perhaps now the principled approach makes more sense," Brin said.