TightWind is written by Kyle Baxter. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

WikiLeaks’s State Department cables do provide a few more details on how China pressured Google:

But Chinese officials became alarmed that Google still did less than its Chinese rivals to remove material Chinese officials considered offensive. Such material included information about Chinese dissidents and human rights issues, but also about central and provincial Chinese leaders and their children — considered an especially taboo topic, interviews with people quoted in the cables reveal.

Mr. Li, after apparently searching for information online on himself and his children, was reported to have stepped up pressure on Google. He also took steps to punish Google commercially, according to the May 18 cable.

The propaganda chief ordered three big state-owned Chinese telecommunications companies to stop doing business with Google. Mr. Li also demanded that Google executives remove any link between its sanitized Chinese Web site and its main international one, which he deemed “an illegal site,” the cable said.

When governments have such a large role in the economy, they will inevitably use it to punish anyone who threatens their power. You cannot give the state substantial economic control without also relinquishing political freedom, too.