Google could pay dearly for catering to China: opinion

FILE PHOTO: A Google sign is seen during the China Digital Entertainment Expo and Conference (ChinaJoy) in Shanghai, China August 3, 2018. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo

Eight years after it exited China over censorship and espionage concerns, Alphabet Inc’s Google appears ready to compromise with the Chinese government in order to return. 

Last spring, the company reportedly began work on Dragonfly, a search engine customised for the China market that would block keywords such as “human rights” and provide Chinese authorities a means of tracking whoever is daring enough to attempt such searches. Development work accelerated after a December 2017 meeting between Google CEO Sundar Pichai and top Chinese officials, according to the Intercept.