We’re sure that by tomorrow morning, there will be an even bigger slew of news out about Google’s recent move (including if they actually are talking to the government, we hear they are at least). But for tonight, here’s the latest news on the matter.

You know how people were offering flowers up at the alter of Google in Beijing? That’s not allowed anymore - security officers at Tsinghua University (right next to Google’s offices) are asking you why you’re buying flowers and demanding that it not be for the Big G. That’s apparently propelled “Illegal flower donations” (非法獻花) to the first big internet meme of China 2010.

Meanwhile, quite expectedly, China’s official state media has officially told all news portals to harmonize their news with Xinhua’s/People’s Daily’s versions. Considering that China Daily’s take on the whole ordeal was a boring two sentences, Chinese people not addicted to the internet probably aren’t going to know much about this. According to Reuters, Xinhua has said that Chinese authorities are “seeking more information on Google’s statement that it could quit China” and that “it is still hard to say whether Google will quit China or not. Nobody knows.”

Wired quoted a source that said Google has tried to work to protect its employees from that “information seeking,” timing the announcement so that its Beijing branch would know about what was happening before they arrived to work. “[Google is] really concerned about their safety and feels that there is a very real possibility that they will be interrogated,” the source said. “They have been [interrogated] numerous times before, and this time they could be arrested and imprisoned.”

http://shanghaiist.com/2010/01/13/everything_almost_thats_been_happen.php#more