It looks like Hillary Clinton is all over the news again, and I see big events brewing up for online wholesale and retail as a result. She can be seen on every channel these days, as people are tuning in to hear what the US Secretary of State has to say. People are talking about her. Her face can be seen on magazine covers and flickering computer screens across the country. Everyone knows who she is, and what her position is as President Obama’s right-hand woman, dishing out the foreign policy like it’s spoonfuls of some mysterious medicine for us to take. Sometimes it looks and tastes awful right away, and sometimes it’s the aftertaste that gets to you. At any rate, people in this country are paying close attention to what the former First Lady has to say… whether they understand the words that are coming out of her mouth, or not.

“Countries that restrict free access to information or violate the basic rights of Internet users risk walling themselves off from the progress of the next century.”

I’m not talking about the people in the USA, by the way. I’m talking about the people in China. Since I moved to China in 2006, I have watched how the Chinese take particular interest in high-profile people who make up the American tapestry of fame and shame, including everything from celebs to politicians, business leaders to sports idols. These days, Hillary is right up there with Beyoncé Knowles. Legendary, intimidating, and downright scary to some… for others, she inspires and brings hope for more balance as the fight for unrestricted Internet access wages on. By now, we all know what’s going on with the Google versus China news that’s been lighting up the headlines, along with Clinton’s statements regarding the matter.

According to the Wall Street Journal: “Google said on Jan. 12 that it will remain in China only if the government relents on rules requiring the censorship of content the ruling communist party considers subversive. The ultimatum came after Google said it uncovered a computer attack that tried to plunder its software coding and the email accounts of human-rights activists protesting Chinese policies.” Whoa… did I just see the word “ultimatum” thrown in there? I thought nobody hands the PRC an ultimatum, and gets away with it!

The writing’s on the wall, I think. While the rest of the free world seems to be cruising the information superhighway, China has been rumbling along on a back country trail with toll gates and check points at every intersection. Chinese authorities are getting very cautious about how they handle this case, as a large number of citizens become more vocal about not being too pleased with the rules of the road. Some State-run media outlets, on the other hand, are trying their best to portray Google as an angry loser in the race to claim market share against Baidu.com, China’s homegrown search giant. Things are getting interesting, as I have personally been hearing from roughly a 50-50 mix of Google supporters and naysayers – all of which are in the wholesale business – each giving perfectly rational arguments to support their beliefs. In the end, our beliefs pretty much converge as we all try to Find it. Source it. Profit!