Though the Chinese government might try very hard, I think it will be costly, and extremely difficult to control everything its citizens read on the Internet. In my view, blocking search words like "Egypt" as a way to keep people from thinking about hot button issues like the authoritarian form of Chinese government is somewhat futile and misses the point that in societies with free speech many good things happen. Of course free speech means that the ruling communist party might lose some power, however, the overall economic, political and social conditions of the country would improve.
This article published in the WSJ chronicles the censorship situation in China:
Chao, Loretta, 2011. China cracks down on uprising chatter. The Wall Street Journal, Feb. 14.
From an international standpoint, free speech, human rights, monopolistic practices, and intellectual property are issues that raise concern in among nearly all countries including the US.
If the people in China are truly unhappy with their government, change will happen eventually with or without the Internet.
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