Freedom of speech, like an endangered species in China, suffered another setback last month when internet company Google decided to abandon the principles of free speech in order to gain access to a huge market.
To many people's shock and outrage, Google launched a China-based version of its search service that censors search results to avoid angering Beijing.
The Google controversy has fuelled debate about the degree to which foreign companies will bow to the Chinese government's censors in order to operate in the mainland's fast growing internet market of 110 million users.
An editorial in the Financial Times on January 26 said Google's agreement to censorship sacrifices its ideals.
The editorial said: 'The opening of the potentially vast Chinese market has exposed a rich seam of hypocrisy in western governments and companies. Plenty are willing to condemn human rights abuses and contemplate sanctions for insignificant markets such as Burma and Zimbabwe. Few would think of taking the same sort of action against China.'