The Google-China event in January 2010 is a snapshot example of developments in global politics, the world economy, and the major media transformation causing/accompanying these developments, in ways which will prove revealing in more than one disciplines of study. The history of the media and the internet censorship in China is well documented, as well as the various cyberconflicts linked to conflicts pertaining to the real world or tied specifically to internet freedom in general and to the Chinese approach to ICTs in particular. The purpose of this article is to sketch roughly the web of complex issues in which this cyberconflict is situated. In the bigger picture, this cyberconflict event adds to the debate on the position of China in the world system, and creates insecurities about the ambitions, capabilities and hidden desires of the ‘next hegemon’, while it punches more wholes to the already uncomfortable Sino-American relationship. Further, it raises questions about China’s information warfare philosophy and military doctrine and the bizarre and contradictory ways they develop their virtual society, i.e. exploiting the technologies commercially, but using surveillance and censorship in ways contradicting liberal ideal of universal digital rights. On top of these concerns are the transformations the internet has brought in regards to civil society, citizenship and activism; the relationship between business and activism in China and beyond; the relationship between the state and the plethora of ‘patriotic’ hackers; and the question of the working class digital have-less inside China.