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WASHINGTON - Google stopped censoring Internet search results in China on Monday in a move that was hailed by rights groups but drew an angry reaction from the Chinese authorities.
The Internet titan announced in a blog post that it had begun redirecting mainland Chinese users of its Chinese-language search engine Google.cn to an uncensored Google site in Hong Kong.
Google's decision came a little more than two months after the Mountain View, California-based company threatened to close its Chinese operations because of cyberattacks it said originated from China.
China reacted angrily to Google's move saying it was "totally wrong" to stop censorship and to blame Beijing for the alleged cyberattacks that Google said targeted email accounts of Chinese human rights activists around the world.
"Google has violated its written promise it made when entering the Chinese market by stopping filtering its searching service," said the official in charge of the Internet bureau of the State Council Information Office.
"We're uncompromisingly opposed to the politicization of commercial issues, and express our discontent and indignation to Google for its unreasonable accusations and conduct," the Chinese official said.
The White House said it was "disappointed" Google could not reach a deal with Beijing and reiterated that US President Barack Obama is "committed to Internet freedom and... opposed to censorship."
"The US-China relationship is mature enough to sustain differences," National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer added.
"Figuring out how to make good on our promise to stop censoring search on Google.cn has been hard," Google's chief legal officer David Drummond said in a blog post.
"Earlier today we stopped censoring our search services -- Google Search, Google News, and Google Images -- on Google.cn," Drummond said.
"Users visiting Google.cn are now being redirected to Google.com.hk, where we are offering uncensored search in simplified Chinese, specifically designed for users in mainland China and delivered via our servers in Hong Kong.
"We very much hope that the Chinese government respects our decision, though we are well aware that it could at any time block access to our services," he said.
Drummond said that "in terms of Google's wider business operations, we intend to continue R&D work in China and also to maintain a sales presence there."
"We want as many people in the world as possible to have access to our services, including users in mainland China, yet the Chinese government has been crystal clear throughout our discussions that self-censorship is a non-negotiable legal requirement," Drummond said.
"We believe this new approach of providing uncensored search in simplified Chinese from Google.com.hk is a sensible solution to the challenges we've faced -- it's entirely legal and will meaningfully increase access to information for people in China," Drummond said.
Google launched Google.cn in January 2006 after agreeing to censor websites for content banned under Chinese law. Chinese search engine Baidu.com is the search market leader in China followed by Google.cn.
Beijing tightly controls online content in a vast system dubbed the "Great Firewall of China," removing information it deems harmful such as pornography and violent content, but also politically sensitive material.
Google's decision to end censorship in the country with the world's largest online population, some 384 million Web users, was welcomed by rights groups.
Arvind Ganesan, business and human rights director at Human Rights Watch, called it "an important step to challenge the Chinese government's use of censorship to maintain its control over its citizens."
"The onus is now on other major technology companies to take a firm stand against censorship," Ganesan said.
Sharon Hom, executive director of New York-based Human Rights in China, said Google was throwing the ball in the court of Beijing, which promised to respect freedoms in Hong Kong when it regained the territory in 1997.
"They are technically staying in China but stopping censorship," she said.
- AFP /ls
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