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国商务部发言人姚坚上周五在回应有关谷歌(Google)在中国命运的提问时打了一个有趣的比方：谷歌在中国，就像中国企业在非洲。姚坚想说的是，像中国在非洲寻求扩张时一样，谷歌在中国也需要适应当地的法律环境。他暗示，这对于中国和谷歌一样，都不是一帆风顺的。
姚坚说，最近中国企业在海外运营"遇到了很多问题"，在非洲，怎样保护环境，尊重当地就业，尊重当地工会，尊重当地宗教，都是中国企业走出去要面临的问题。
他说：这些是东道国──不论是非洲还是美国──的必然规范（比如……），总之是要尊重东道国的法律法规，不要给别人造成污染，不要给别人带来环境问题，非洲是一片绿土，我们需要为他们修建更多的道路，给他们带来就业、就学和健康等等。
然后姚坚强调说，中国仍在发展，仍然处在建设"小康社会"的过程中。"小康社会"是中国官员用来描述他们所期望的社会经济发展水平的一个常用语。
他说，包括谷歌公司在内的在中国的外资公司，都应当遵守国际规范，遵守东道国的法律法规，尊重公共利益和文化传统，承担相应的责任。他的意思是说，谷歌推行自己的准则，可能会破坏中国社会的稳定。
但姚坚的比方并不十分贴切。中国投资者在非洲涉及的是采掘工业，把石油和资源带回国内喂养其庞大的经济体，他们的运作并非根植于非洲当地市场。
而谷歌的业务是要让中国的网民点击它的搜索引擎。这就意味着要在一个努力从几十年计划体制转型、但政府仍控制着信息渠道的主要经济体中推进信息的自由流动。
中国还没有遇到这样的考验：如果一家中国大公司在投资非洲时，也像谷歌在中国一样和东道国的法律法规发生一种根本性的碰撞，这样的情况应当怎样处理？
如果这样的情况发生，中国可能会像谷歌一样发现，投资国外可能比仅仅是遵守法律条文要更为复杂。
J.R. Wu
China's Ministry of Commerce spokesman Yao Jian Friday, responding to questions about Google's fate in China, made an interesting analogy: Google in China is like Chinese companies in Africa.
What Yao tried to say was that similar to China as it has sought to expand in Africa, Google has had to adapt to local rules in China. For China as for Google, he implied, this has not always been easy.
'Recently Chinese companies operating overseas have met with a lot of problems...In Africa, [they relate to] how to respect the environment, respect local employment, respect local unions, respect local religion. These are all problems Chinese companies [expanding abroad] face,' Yao said.
'Logically, these are constraints of the host country--Africa or U.S. constraints [for example]....The core goal is to comply with the laws of the host country. Don't create pollution for others. Don't create environmental problems for others. Africa is a green land. We need to fix more of their roads, give them employment, education, health, etc,' he said.
From there, Yao then pointed out that China is still developing and striving to build a 'moderately prosperous society,' a phrase Chinese officials often use to describe their desired level of social and economic development.
He said, 'All foreign investors in China, including Google, should comply with international norms, respect the rules and regulations of the host country, respect the public interest and legal traditions and shoulder social responsibility.' The implication: Google by pressing its agenda could disrupt Chinese society.
But Yao's analogy doesn't quite work. Chinese investors in Africa are involved in the extractive industry to bring oil and resources home to feed the dragon economy; their operations are not embedded in the domestic African market.
Meanwhile, Google's business is about getting netizens in China to click into its search engine. It hinges on trying to allow for the free flow of information in a major economy that is attempting to transition from years of central planning but one where the government still controls access to information.
China has yet to be tested in Africa on how it would deal with a situation where a big Chinese foreign investor runs up against the rules of its host country in such a fundamental way as Google has in China.
When that happens, China may find, as Google has found, that investing in a foreign country can be more complex than just following the letter of the law.
J.R. Wu
What Yao tried to say was that similar to China as it has sought to expand in Africa, Google has had to adapt to local rules in China. For China as for Google, he implied, this has not always been easy.
'Recently Chinese companies operating overseas have met with a lot of problems...In Africa, [they relate to] how to respect the environment, respect local employment, respect local unions, respect local religion. These are all problems Chinese companies [expanding abroad] face,' Yao said.
'Logically, these are constraints of the host country--Africa or U.S. constraints [for example]....The core goal is to comply with the laws of the host country. Don't create pollution for others. Don't create environmental problems for others. Africa is a green land. We need to fix more of their roads, give them employment, education, health, etc,' he said.
From there, Yao then pointed out that China is still developing and striving to build a 'moderately prosperous society,' a phrase Chinese officials often use to describe their desired level of social and economic development.
He said, 'All foreign investors in China, including Google, should comply with international norms, respect the rules and regulations of the host country, respect the public interest and legal traditions and shoulder social responsibility.' The implication: Google by pressing its agenda could disrupt Chinese society.
But Yao's analogy doesn't quite work. Chinese investors in Africa are involved in the extractive industry to bring oil and resources home to feed the dragon economy; their operations are not embedded in the domestic African market.
Meanwhile, Google's business is about getting netizens in China to click into its search engine. It hinges on trying to allow for the free flow of information in a major economy that is attempting to transition from years of central planning but one where the government still controls access to information.
China has yet to be tested in Africa on how it would deal with a situation where a big Chinese foreign investor runs up against the rules of its host country in such a fundamental way as Google has in China.
When that happens, China may find, as Google has found, that investing in a foreign country can be more complex than just following the letter of the law.
J.R. Wu
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