I think it is quite a big story tbh and its not simply technology news, its a story that also touches on freedom of speech and censorship.
We may take it for granted that we have freedom to surf for whatever we want and if we are pissed off about something we can protest about it but other countries would rather control their people and deny them history and facts.
I don't think that freedom of speech or censorship have anything to do with it. There are thousands of tech companies that trade with China that do not force China into taking decisions about personal privacy and censorship. Google has tried to put it's own morals and values on a country that is far behind in it's development and that it wrong, this is why we have such a public standoff between the two.
This is simply a protectionist measure with China wanting Chinese companies to grow in it's tech boom rather than allowing foreign companies to trade in it's territory whilst trying to dictate terms and grabbing the lions share of profits.
I'm also surprised by the illusion of good will that Google has spun over the news media, if anyone thinks that this is a matter of freedom of speech then they are being very naive.