You deal with it...

Google Guru John Battelle posts today on the company's submission to the Congressional Human Rights Caucus on China. Good, sensible stuff on the whole. The last paragraph of the statement caught our eye, though:

"There is an important role for the United States government to address, in the context of its bilateral government-to-government relationships, the larger issues of free expression and open communication. For example, as a U.S.-based company that deals primarily in information, we have urged the United States government to treat censorship as a barrier to trade."

So, when America's diplomats have finished their misguided pleadings with China's leaders on the value of the Renminbi, they can suggest that opening up the Internet is a really good idea. I'm sure Ambassador Randt and his colleagues in the Embassy will be just thrilled that Google is trying to toss them that ball.