This may be a little difficult. A direct search may not show the relevant material. A series of links could lead access the sensitive material. It strikes me that Google will have a full-time job plugging the many potential leaks in the system and my guess is that they might not try too hard. After all, repression is an expensive business and capitalists are not known to spend their money in this way. Simon Harrison, Worcester

In the US, we have given up all hope of turning Sino-American issues in our favour. The lobbying of US corporations to forgive China's policies and concentrate on its opportunities for profit and exploitation has made us a paper tiger. The Google move is just another example of the knee-jerk corporate reaction of heavy petting with Beijing. We whistle past graveyards by wishing that all those nagging little human rights and security issues would go away when the profits explode. It is a sad and dangerous condition, and President Bush is one of the biggest hypocrites in this arena. Gary Cinnamon, San Clemente, California

This is not adapting to a foreign market, this is complicity in the oppression of the Chinese people. When Google agree to censor on behalf of a regime, they make a political statement of support, and must accept their role as willing partners in a campaign of deliberate misinformation, misdirection and wilful deception. James Griffiths, Birmingham

This is a real case of style over substance. Google has nailed its colours to the mast as a business first and a public service second. Maybe we shouldn't be surprised, but perhaps because of its British origins, we can't help thinking Google could have taken the moral high ground. Lucy Horsefield, Hampton

Is there an up-and-coming search engine which has an ethical policy of not providing personal search data to governments, and which is not currently compromising freedom of information in authoritarian countries? If so, what is it? If not, shouldn't some business-savvy techie set one up? Jonathan Jones, London

Google has clearly made the smart choice. Their options were simple: get your foot in the door, albeit in a limited way, and henceforth have the possibility of increasing the presence of a Western, uncensored company in China, or refuse to participate under the conditions offered and deny yourself any opportunity for fighting the censorship in the future. With the choice they made, Google are now "in China". Perhaps the situation is not ideal, but you cannot fight the censorship from the outside. Nicholas Ord, Guildford

Of course not! I can't believe that a company as successful, and therefore with as much power and influence, as Google is submitting to the effort of the Chinese government to limit information access and therefore allow the children of their people to grow up with an altered perception of history. I also can't believe that more isn't being done by other nations to try to stop this. This indoctrination is outrageous. Ola Marki, Paris

I think Google should offer their normal service to Chinese people - but only when the West stops trading with China and people in the West stop buying Chinese goods. Mark Budd, Hornsea

This is a shocking act which takes away the freedom the internet allows. Google should be ashamed to accept this as the way forward. The internet should open minds, not restrict education and learning, especially about the history of your own country. Fiona Macleod, Glasgow

In addition to storing all information which is now open to a government demanding a right of review, Google is now a censor. There is no surprise here; Google is obviously prepared to do business at all costs. A moral decision would have been to place democracy above business. Mac Adams, Edmonton, Canada

I agree totally with Mark Budd of Hornsea (above). It is patently ridiculous that we criticise Google while supporting this abhorrent and vicious regime with our buying power. Just as customers can change the way a business is run by taking their custom elsewhere, we can change China by turning our backs on it. Without economic success totalitarian states collapse. We are effectively responsible for the crimes of the Chinese Government. Derek Sinclair, Dundee

The reasons for Google's decision are obvious: both it and Yahoo are in a bitter fight for the Asian search advertising market. However, given Google's somewhat lofty and self-righteous opinions on net behaviour people expected more. I can't help but think what would have happened in the 1930s if the internet had existed. Would they have done a similar deal with Nazi Germany citing "local laws"? The irony is, of course, that Google is now blocking access to human rights websites but not to neo-Nazi propaganda. Gus Swan, London

Think about it this way, either Google censors itself or the Chinese Government will cut them off with the Great Firewall of China. And if Google didn't do it (and thus somehow tarnish the supposedly shining face of Western corporations) then someone else would. China's residents are very aware of the censorship; as someone said, there are always ways for information to sneak through. Elyse Ribbons, Beijing

There is no way that Google should cave in to this kind of pressure. Maybe they're starting to think about the bottom line a bit to much. Name and address withheld

Would the The Times censor its newspaper before selling within China? Then why should Google comply with the communist authorities? Vinay Mehra, Purley

The good that Google can provide outweighs the restrictions. Harold Lund, New Hope, Minnesota

Nothing will stop the flow of information - and the revolution of knowledge and thought - that access to the internet provides. Whatever happens where Google and the Chinese Government are concerned, the communist authorities realise that unless they destroy every computer, remove every land line and turn off the electricity, they are facing an unstoppable surge of freedom in the future. This is just the beginning. Keith Downer, London

Having tried the Google China site, I can see the negative effects that censorship supported by Western companies is having. Look for the Tiananmen square massacre or Falun Gong, and the search engine comes up with Chinese Government documents on Falun Gong being an evil, illegal, cult, which it blatantly is not. Obviously, democracy does not count where money and a "large market" are involved. John Thomason, Leicester

Its very hard to find an argument backing Google's decision to censor search results in China. It can only be said that they do have a business to run, and China is obviously going to be a large, if not the largest, customer Google has. I would like to know if China's residents are aware of this censorship. Rory Newton, Lincoln

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