The Google affair was expected to be resolved in China this week. But there is no resolution in sight and still nothing is clear, although a great many interesting facts have come to light and a great many important statements have been made. Google and its search engine plus email service were expected either to leave China in the next couple of days or to make up with the authorities. Neither came to pass.

The dispute began when Google's email service was hacked in December, allegedly by the government in order to read the correspondence between prominent Chinese dissidents. The American Internet giant failed to prove what cannot be proved - that the Chinese government is responsible. Then Google raised the banner against web censorship and announced that it could not abide by Chinese censorship laws.

It would be logical for a company that does not want to follow the laws of a country to leave. But Google did not leave. It would be equally logical for a company to try to negotiate with the authorities if it has problems and does not want to leave. But Google did not try to negotiate either. So, what did Google do?

In a nutshell, Google tried to provoke the Chinese government and put it in a bind. On Monday, Google cunningly redirected web users from China to its Hong Kong page. Hong Kong is also part of China, but it has its own laws and does not censor the web. Beijing will have to surmount many legal obstacles in order to get out of this bind.

However, the Chinese government is well on its way. It's hitting Google where it hurts most - the wallet. The Chinese advertizing market grew by $3 billion last year, i.e. during the crisis. But several Chinese advertisers have recently announced that they will not award contracts to Google for its violations (or rather, circumvention) of Chinese law. However, Beijing has so far stopped short of kicking Google out of China, even though it seems like the American Internet giant is daring China to.

Why? This dispute brought many interesting facts to light. Some of them concern Google's overall financial health, while others have to do with its success or failure in China. It brings to mind that Russian cult classic about Stierlitz, the Soviet spy working in Hitler's Berlin. At one point Stierlitz realizes that he would be better off provoking an argument with Gestapo boss Muller. In that case everyone would think that Muller was after him because of the argument, and no one would believe Muller when he claimed Stierlitz was a Soviet spy. Maybe Google planned the whole thing, just like Stierlitz.

It seems that freedom of speech on the web had nothing to do with the dispute. You can't say absolutely everything you want in most of the world, be it on the web or a city square. Some countries have laws against it, like China, whereas others have more sophisticated and effective ways to restrict speech, like political correctness in the U.S., where no one dares say "Negro" or even "black", "American Indian", or "invalids", in effect creating a new language. You are not allowed to draw cartoons of Muhammad in Muslim countries (and some others). You are not allowed to promote racial hatred in any multi-ethnic country. China, in fact, has recently seen two acts of provocation - ethnic pogroms, really - in which Han Chinese were assaulted in Tibet and Xingjian.

So what is going on? First, it seems that the new U.S. administration is raising the stakes in anticipation of the "strategic U.S.-Chinese dialogue", which will be held in Beijing in May. Apparently, everything will be on the table there, first and foremost, who is devaluing their currency to boost exports? China or the United States? For the time being, China seems to have the upper hand. By weakening the dollar, the Obama administration avoided many of the upheavals of the crisis, but now...

It would be unrealistic to expect China to consolidate its influence without any obstacles. Google's crusade against censorship is understandable under the circumstances. These tactics are a hallmark of Democratic administrations in the U.S. The Republicans would simply declare China "an evil empire" and fight out in the open (the Bush administration did not do this, but that's another matter). It would be interesting to know what the great Henry Kissinger was doing recently in Beijing and to see how the two key powers are sorting out their relationship.

It is a subtle dance. The Washington Post observed recently that the atmosphere between foreign business and the Chinese government has been changing. Indeed, 480 of the Fortune 500 companies have invested in China. Now up to 8-9 billion dollars flow into China every month. Isn't that a bit excessive? And what about China's complicated relationship with intellectual property rights? China is not always right. Sometimes it is wrong, even very wrong. Google's well-orchestrated revolt may even prove useful here.

The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.