China Responds to Google
By Chris Weiss
In response to Google’s declaration on China earlier this week, the Chinese government has offered an official, if not elaborate response. The official line, which was uttered by two individual government officials, states quite simply that companies doing business in China must abide by its laws. In other words, if Google wants to continue to operate in China, it’ll need to continue filtering search results, as per Chinese demands. China also continued to tow the line that its Internet is open.
It would appear that the ball is back in Google’s court. Google stated a firm denouncement of Internet restrictions in its announcement two days ago and said that it would leave the Chinese market if it came down to it.
The Chinese handling of the Internet also puts China at odds with the U.S. government. Under Obama, freedom of Internet is an administration priority. White House spokesman Nicolas Shapiro weighed in on the situation: “The recent cyberintrusion that Google attributes to China is troubling, and the federal government is looking into it.” [via NY Times] [Photo: Kyle Simourd]
