Google lambasted over withdrawal
Source: Agencies/Shanghai Daily |
01:29 UTC+8 March 24, 2010
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINESE regulators yesterday condemned Google's decision to shut up shop on Chinese mainland, calling the move "totally wrong" and accusing the company of violating promises.
After threatening to quit China over alleged cyber attacks and legally required self-censorship, Google shut its mainland-based search engine, google.cn, early yesterday morning.
Visitors to Google.cn are automatically redirected to the Chinese-language service based in Hong Kong, where Google is not legally required to censor searches.
The shift did not mean, however, that Chinese were suddenly allowed unfettered access to everything on the Internet. Web filters automatically weed out anything considered pornographic or deemed harmful to society and national security.
The good news for millions of mainland Google users was that its most frequently used functions, including a simplified Chinese language search, Gmail, iGoogle and Google Maps, yesterday remained accessible, albeit a little shaky.
"Google has violated its written promise it made when entering the Chinese market by stopping filtering its searching service and blaming China in insinuation for alleged hacker attacks," said the State Council Information Office, a Cabinet arm that oversees the Internet, in a statement.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a regular news conference in Beijing yesterday that Google's move was an isolated act by a commercial company, and should not affect China-United States ties "unless politicized by others."
"We firmly oppose politicizing commercial issues, and express our dissatisfaction and anger at Google's unreasonable accusations and practices," the information office statement said.
The world's No. 1 search service provider launched its Chinese Website four years ago and has more than 600 employees on the mainland.
Google's move marks only a partial retreat.
It leaves behind a research and sales division. Its map services and a free, advertiser-supported music portal still have servers on the mainland.
Google China's research and sales team would be maintained in the country, David Drummond, the firm's senior vice president of corporate affairs and chief legal officer, said yesterday.
"It's a balancing act. They are trying to leave but not leave, stay but not stay," said Duncan Clark, managing director of BDA China Ltd, an IT market research firm.
Netizens on Chinese mainland yesterday found themselves redirected to the so-called "Google's new family in China" (google.com.hk) when they visited google.cn.
Due to an increased load on Google servers based in Hong Kong and the switch-over, Netizens may find "some slowdown in services or find some products temporarily inaccessible," Drummond said in a statement.
The new Webpage was a touch unstable and a search on "sensitive words" led to the now-familiar message "this page cannot be displayed."
More than 40 percent of Netizens said they would now use Baidu instead and about 30 percent opted for Microsoft's Bing, according to a poll by Donews, an online IT group.
Initial post-move plans were broken to some of Google's 600 Chinese employees at a meeting in the first-floor cafeteria of Google's Beijing office, according to company spokeswoman Jessica Powell.
"We haven't worked out all the details so we can't ever rule out letting people go, but we very much want to avoid that," said Powell. "The sales presence to a certain degree could depend on the success of google.com.hk."
A client who stopped by to find out the status of his advertising account told reporters outside the Beijing office that Google staff he had spoken with seemed nervous and confused.
"Nobody in there could give me a clear answer," said Pan Yun, manager of a Beijing real estate Website.
On taobao.com, a popular Chinese online retailer, at least one vendor was already selling a "GoogleBye" T-shirt for 38 yuan (US$5.50).
The words were under an image of the Great Wall and above that in Chinese characters, it said "Long Live the People's Republic of China."
After threatening to quit China over alleged cyber attacks and legally required self-censorship, Google shut its mainland-based search engine, google.cn, early yesterday morning.
Visitors to Google.cn are automatically redirected to the Chinese-language service based in Hong Kong, where Google is not legally required to censor searches.
The shift did not mean, however, that Chinese were suddenly allowed unfettered access to everything on the Internet. Web filters automatically weed out anything considered pornographic or deemed harmful to society and national security.
The good news for millions of mainland Google users was that its most frequently used functions, including a simplified Chinese language search, Gmail, iGoogle and Google Maps, yesterday remained accessible, albeit a little shaky.
"Google has violated its written promise it made when entering the Chinese market by stopping filtering its searching service and blaming China in insinuation for alleged hacker attacks," said the State Council Information Office, a Cabinet arm that oversees the Internet, in a statement.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a regular news conference in Beijing yesterday that Google's move was an isolated act by a commercial company, and should not affect China-United States ties "unless politicized by others."
"We firmly oppose politicizing commercial issues, and express our dissatisfaction and anger at Google's unreasonable accusations and practices," the information office statement said.
The world's No. 1 search service provider launched its Chinese Website four years ago and has more than 600 employees on the mainland.
Google's move marks only a partial retreat.
It leaves behind a research and sales division. Its map services and a free, advertiser-supported music portal still have servers on the mainland.
Google China's research and sales team would be maintained in the country, David Drummond, the firm's senior vice president of corporate affairs and chief legal officer, said yesterday.
"It's a balancing act. They are trying to leave but not leave, stay but not stay," said Duncan Clark, managing director of BDA China Ltd, an IT market research firm.
Netizens on Chinese mainland yesterday found themselves redirected to the so-called "Google's new family in China" (google.com.hk) when they visited google.cn.
Due to an increased load on Google servers based in Hong Kong and the switch-over, Netizens may find "some slowdown in services or find some products temporarily inaccessible," Drummond said in a statement.
The new Webpage was a touch unstable and a search on "sensitive words" led to the now-familiar message "this page cannot be displayed."
More than 40 percent of Netizens said they would now use Baidu instead and about 30 percent opted for Microsoft's Bing, according to a poll by Donews, an online IT group.
Initial post-move plans were broken to some of Google's 600 Chinese employees at a meeting in the first-floor cafeteria of Google's Beijing office, according to company spokeswoman Jessica Powell.
"We haven't worked out all the details so we can't ever rule out letting people go, but we very much want to avoid that," said Powell. "The sales presence to a certain degree could depend on the success of google.com.hk."
A client who stopped by to find out the status of his advertising account told reporters outside the Beijing office that Google staff he had spoken with seemed nervous and confused.
"Nobody in there could give me a clear answer," said Pan Yun, manager of a Beijing real estate Website.
On taobao.com, a popular Chinese online retailer, at least one vendor was already selling a "GoogleBye" T-shirt for 38 yuan (US$5.50).
The words were under an image of the Great Wall and above that in Chinese characters, it said "Long Live the People's Republic of China."
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
