How does Google square the circle?

Is Google hypocritical?

It is regrettable that a company whose motto is "Don't be evil" has chosen to abandon the principles of free speech and universally available information in order to gain access to a large market in a repressive state.

Internet searches via the Chinese website to be established by Google will be censored by the company itself. They will, therefore, exclude results on such sensitive topics as democratic reform, Taiwanese independence and the banned Falun Gong movement.

Google awkwardly defended its decision, admitting that censorship was "inconsistent with Google's mission" but was better than providing no information or subjecting users to a "heavily degraded" service.

For more on this see the Star.