| China warns Google to respect Chinese laws |
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12/03/2010 15:21 (700 Day 23:28 minutes ago) | |||||
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The FINANCIAL -- China warned Google it must obey its laws or "pay the consequences," saying the online search giant should be no exception in China's current Internet clean-up campaign, as Xinhua News Agency reports.
Google said on Jan. 12 that it intended to stop following government requirements that it filter certain content from the results of its Chinese search engine, Google.cn, according to The Wall Street Journal. The company has been in talks in recent weeks with Chinese agencies about whether it can continue to operate Google.cn unfiltered—and if not, whether other parts of its Chinese operation would be affected.
At a press conference Friday, Li Yizhong, Minister of Industry and Information Technology, was asked by a reporter how China would react if Google does stop censoring Google.cn, the same source reports. "I hope Google can respect Chinese rules and regulations," responded Li, whose ministry is one of several that regulates China's Internet. "If you insist on taking this action that violates Chinese laws, I repeat: you are unfriendly and irresponsible, and you yourself will have to bear the consequences."
China has the world's most populous Internet market, with 384 million people online. Google has about 35 percent of the Chinese search market, compared with about 60 percent for local rival Baidu Inc, according to AP. Chinese users of Google and even some of China's state-controlled media have warned the loss of a major competitor could slow the industry's development.
Beijing encourages Internet use for education and business but tries to block access to material deemed subversive or pornographic, including Web sites abroad run by human rights and pro-democracy activists, as the same source reports. Li insisted the government needs to censor Internet content to protect the rights of the country and its people. "If there is information that harms stability or the people, of course we will have to block it," he said.
Chen Zhonglin, a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, told Xinhua that all countries had the right to scrutinize contents on the Internet to protect the interests of the state and its citizens, according to Xinhua. Restrictions on the Internet may be different among countries, but the specifics should be decided by a country itself, said Chen, also dean of the Law School of Chongqing University, who was in Beijing for the NPC's annual session.
"From a legal point of view, Google, as a search engine, should be responsible for its search results," he said, the same source reports. Nicole Wong, Google's vice president, urged the U.S. Congress Wednesday in a hearing to put pressure on countries scrutinizing Internet contents. She previously said China's scrutiny into the Internet was against the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Wong said a total of 25 governments censored Google's search results in the past few years.
Many analysts who follow Chinese Internet policy have said since the Jan. 12 statement that it is highly unlikely that Beijing would let Google.cn operate unfiltered, according to The Wall Street Journal. Censorship—which covers content ranging from pornography to criticism of Communist Party leaders to unauthorized religious material—is a core policy of the Chinese government, which has been tightening controls over the Internet in recent years.
It's less clear how other aspects of Google might be affected by its decision. The government could decide to also block access in China to Google's main global site, Google.com, as well as to related services that are operated outside China, like Gmail. But that would risk infuriating millions of Chinese who use Gmail and other such services, analysts think such a drastic step is unlikely, the same source reports. Google also sells advertisements on its global Web site in China, does research and development, and has investments in local Chinese companies.
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