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Download MP3China has said Google’s move to stop censoring search results is “totally wrong” and accused it of breaking a promise made when it launched in China. The Internet giant is redirecting users in the People’s Republic to its unrestricted Hong Kong site, although Chinese firewalls mean results still come back censored. Beijing said the decision should not affect ties with Washington. Google threatened to leave the Chinese market completely this year after cyber attacks were traced back to China. Mary Kay Magistad reports
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MARCO WERMAN: I’m Marco Werman, this is The World. Google raised the stakes in its confrontation with China today. The internet giant made good on its vow to stop self-censoring its Chinese search engine. The company moved its search operation out of mainland China and into Hong Kong. Internet censorship rules are different there. The Chinese government calls Google’s action a breach of contract. Many Chinese internet users are calling it brave and admirable. The World’s Mary Kay Magistad reports from Beijing.
MARY KAY MAGISTAD: By mid afternoon today the multicolored Google sign outside Google’s Beijing office had become a memorial site. There were bouquets of white lilies, a couple of tiny boxes of chocolates, an apple, a tea cup, a rice bowl with chopsticks, even a multicolored pinwheel. These are the sorts of offerings Chinese give at a funeral to help make the spirit comfortable in the next life. There was even a sympathy card with the words “Google, thanks for freedom of info”. A small group of Google supporters stood nearby, mostly young men working for internet companies. This one, Liu De Jun said “I came here to commemorate Google. It’s a shame they have to do this, but it’s good they’re making a stand. Google has its principles and I think it should stick to those principles.” That’s certainly how Google has been pitching its decision to shut down its mainland Chinese search engine rather than continue to self-censor it as it has been doing for the past four years. Peter Barron is a Google spokesman.
PETER BARRON: Well this wasn’t really a decision about revenues at all. This was very much rooted in the principle of freedom of expression. It was about censorship.
MAGISTAD: China’s state run media have been scathing in response. They say Google, like any other company doing business in China, has to comply with China’s laws and regulations. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang:
INTERPRETER: The Chinese government encourages and promotes the development of the internet and our internet is totally open. We’re filtering content that will hurt national security and national interest. We must prevent it from spreading.
MAGISTAD: Many foreign companies investing in China have found this past year to be a sobering one. Censorship has increased. Websites like Facebook, You Tube and Twitter have been blocked. Government departments have been told to buy Chinese, locking out foreign products. All of this has prompted some foreign investors to reassess whether China is as predictable an investment environment as they thought. The Chinese government may have realized that it’s vitriol against Google and editorials over the weekend calling it a stooge of the U.S. government may have gone too far. Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang today dialed it back.
INTERPRETER: The Google incident is just the action of one commercial company and I don’t see it affecting the U.S.-China relationship unless someone wants to make a political issue out of it. And I don’t see it affecting China’s international image either. After all, it’s Google that broke its agreement to operate according to Chinese law.
MAGISTAD: For now, the Chinese government is more or less allowing Google to do it’s neat sidestep, shunting mainland Chinese searchers of Google to the Google Hong Kong site. Hong Kong is, after all, still technically in China, but it doesn’t censor the internet. The Chinese government is still blocking results from sensitive searches. Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang did some sidestepping himself when asked whether Google’s move was legal and whether his government would allow it to continue. He simply said it’s up to Chinese law. But with both international pressure and an ever-growing number of Chinese internet users challenging the appropriateness of censorship laws, China’s leaders are finding they have to work harder to control the internet and to make a case for why censorship is the right thing to do. For The World, I’m Mary Kay Magistad in Beijing.
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