Google might be blocked in mainland China, but is it blocked in Hong Kong? This page [0] says that Google isn't because HK is not behind the great firewall, but there are recent reports that the GFW was extended to HK as well [1], so maybe that page is outdated? But if Google had been blocked at a network level, then it would likely have made much larger headlines. Also, the author talks about Google play still being a present thing, not something unavailable to them.

[0]: https://www.comparitech.com/privacy-security-tools/blockedin...

[1]: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/08/china-great-fi...