Like a dog on a leash isn't controlled by its owner, it's just submissive to him? Riiiiiight.
If Baidu was really doing anything independent, then it would get reined in, like the overseas Chinese real estate firms are.
As for censorship:
"According to the China Digital Times, Baidu has a long history of being the most active and restrictive online censor in the search arena. Documents leaked in April 2009 from an employee in Baidu's internal monitoring and censorship department show a long list of blocked websites and censored topics on Baidu search."
I don't think Baidu came up with that list all by itself.
I don't think you really get how Chinese businesses operate. Tech businesses, as long as they are Chinese, operate under an assumption of semi-impunity as long as they don't cross political boundaries. So healthcare fraud is in bounds, and if they get caught, they'll just get a slap on the wrist. Its not like the government condones the fraud, more like they don't care as long as it doesn't result in social instability.
Real estate firms and other industries like taxi groups are more likely to be directly controlled by princelings, so those are something else altogether. The government has a direct channel into these industries, because they are basically like a state-controlled mafia.
> Tech businesses, as long as they are Chinese, operate under an assumption of semi-impunity as long as they don't cross political boundaries. So healthcare fraud is in bounds, and if they get caught, they'll just get a slap on the wrist.
Wait. So are you arguing that Chinese tech businesses are under state control, or that they aren't? Your examples point to a horrible compromise: political censorship with freedom to defraud the public.
They are under state control so much as they are subject to state regulation and law and pressure. At the same time they are controlled they are also really free.
If Baidu was really doing anything independent, then it would get reined in, like the overseas Chinese real estate firms are.
As for censorship:
"According to the China Digital Times, Baidu has a long history of being the most active and restrictive online censor in the search arena. Documents leaked in April 2009 from an employee in Baidu's internal monitoring and censorship department show a long list of blocked websites and censored topics on Baidu search."
I don't think Baidu came up with that list all by itself.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baidu#Censorship