Editor's Note: We asked our former Seattle P-I colleague Brad Wong -- freelance journalist, blogger, Chinese American and longtime China watcher -- to share his thoughts on Google's latest moves in China.

Brad Wong

Chinese leaders think the 21st Century is their turn in the world. They have money. They are bolder than before. They have 5,000 years of history to draw upon for strategies to gain and keep power. Westerners, such as Google, are coming up against theories used in power grabs thousands of years ago.

The Chinese government also dislikes others touching their political affairs -- and giving Chinese human rights and democracy activists Gmail accounts is part of this. The Chinese government probably feels bold enough to conduct such an attack. If China's Internet industry is strong enough, China might not even need Google.

This attack sounds like it was so sophisticated that Google's top leaders just said: Enough, we're willing to make a trade-off. What they're giving up, certainly, is the business and commercial benefits of being in a country where we know online use is soaring.

Google, though, might be ready to give up its market share to protect its long-term reputation. That attack must have been so good and surprising that it prompted Google to rethink what almost every Western businessperson I've seen wants in China: Money.

One out of every 5 people in the world is a Chinese citizen. Wealth is growing for the country's elite. People are chasing brand names and designer goods. China has changed tremendously even since 2006 when President Hu Jintao of China visited the Seattle area.

Google might be playing the possible exit-and-non-censorship card to see how Chinese leaders are going to react. If Chinese leaders really think that Google is needed in China, and fits somehow in that country's overall economic model, they'll come to the table.

Chinese government leaders, as we know, are interesting people. They're leaders in an authoritarian country for one reason: They've used power in a very real way and are willing to interfere when they want.

If Chinese leaders cave to Google's threat, you will truly have a change toward more open information online. But I doubt that is going to happen. That's when commerce crosses the political line.

The Three Kingdoms remains the Chinese classic about power and strategy. I’m still trying to get through the book, which doesn’t always follow a linear plot. But my wife and I have talked about many of its main points. In The Three Kingdoms, keep in mind how Cao Cao, who was powerful, lost his arrows to Liu Bei, who later used them.

When I told my wife of my thoughts following the news about Google in China, she told me of one famous four-character Chinese saying.

It is: Guo he, chai qiao.

The translation: After you cross the river, we tear down the bridge.

Former Seattle P-I reporter Brad Wong -- writer, analyst, researcher, and communications specialist -- blogs at tofuwatch.com. You can also find him on LinkedIn.