China syndromeChina tries to contain damage from Google dispute
The Chinese government says it will try to persuade Google to continue its operations in China, but expect Google – and other foreign companies — to “respect local law and regulations and local culture and customs to shoulder social responsibility”; Google already made concessions to Chinese law and regulations by allowing the government to dictate what users can – and cannot — find when they do Google searches; Google’s decision to leave China came after Chinese intelligence agents hacked the Gmail accounts of political dissidents and human rights activitists
China today tried to keep its censorship row with Google from damaging business confidence or ties with Washington, promising good conditions for foreign investors but giving no sign it might relax Internet controls.
U.S.-China trade and economic ties will not be affected by any Google Inc. decision to withdraw from China, said Commerce Ministry spokesman Yao Jian at a regular briefing. He insisted, however, that foreign companies must obey Chinese law. “China will still strictly adopt a policy of openness and offer a good investment environment,” Yao said. “We emphasize that foreign companies including Google should all follow international standards and respect local law and regulations and local culture and customs to shoulder social responsibility.”
The New York Times reports that the loss of such a high-profile company would be an embarrassment to communist leaders, who want to make China a technology leader. The ruling party, however, sees control over information as critical to maintaining its monopoly on power.
U.S.-Chinese ties are periodically strained by disputes over trade, human rights, and U.S. support for self-ruled Taiwan, claimed by Beijing as its own territory. The two sides, though, maintain dialogue in a series of forums and say they want constructive relations.
The White House applauded Google’s announcement that it would stop censoring search results in China and might close its China-based Google.cn site after Chinese intelligence operatives hacked its Gmail e-mail service. Other companies appear unlikely to follow suit and challenge China’s Internet controls.
Yao said the Commerce Ministry has received no formal notice that Google plans to leave China.
Some employees of Google’s Beijing development center were at work today after the staff were given a day off following the announcement. Employees declined to talk to reporters.
The Times quotes someone at another technology company who talked with Google employees to say that Google engineers in Beijing were cut off from its internal development network based at company headquarters in Mountain View, California. A Google spokeswoman, Jessica Powell, said by e-mail that it was “business as usual” on Friday at the Beijing office but declined to comment on possible curbs on computer access.
Google bought 200 tickets for idle employees to watch the movie “Avatar” on Friday, the newspaper Beijing Youth Daily said. The National Business Daily said some employees were moved to Google’s Hong Kong office.
Google hopes it can persuade the Chinese government to agree to changes that would enable its China-based Google.cn site to show uncensored
