, risking billions of dollars in revenue, has threatened to pull their popular search engine out of China if  the Government continues to sensor its content and search results. No other company in the world has the same impact or power over commerce and business as Google.  The Chinese Government has told Google that if they are going to operate in China, they MUST play by their rules.  This means they cannot show search results that contain human rights terms, critical political views, religious propaganda or pornographic material.  The company has agreed to follow these strict guidelines for the last few years but things may be about to change. Recently, two Chinese human rights activists Gmail accounts were hacked by highly sophisticated means. Google has taken exception to this and without directly blaming the Chinese Government for the breach, they have told them that they would pull out of China if they continued this kind of behavior and censorship.  At the Google headquarters, Chinese citizens left flowers and notes in admiration of Google’s stand.  A civil uprising is beginning to take shape in the country and its momentum may force the Government to ease its stand.

Luxury Residential Group’s Thoughts:

We applause Google for putting their core principals ahead of their bottom line.  It may be one of the most refreshing, and forever lasting events of our time.  Nothing, throughout history, has been able to force change in China until now. Who would have thunk that Google, an American company, would be able to accomplish something  that no other Government or Human Rights Group could.  We feel that Google will prevail in the end, stay in China and put a huge dent in the Governments stand on censorship.

What does this have to do with Real Estate?

It highlights the fact that no matter how much money is at stake, or how far two parties are apart in a negotiation(could be $500 on a $5 million dollar transaction), one should NEVER challenge or question another’s core principals. It will undoubtedly end all negotiations and profitable relationships moving forward.