Google dispute progress unclear

The Chinese government's ambiguous expressions on whether Google was in talks with the country have put a cloud over the search engine's further development in China during the past three days.


Li Yizhong, minister of MIIT, told reporters on Monday that Google must abide by Chinese laws and respect the wills of Chinese Internet users, if it still plans to continue its operations in China.

When asked whether Google was in talks with China, the 65-year-old minister said, "On this matter, Google knows it best itself."

The remarks were a sharp contrast to Li's earlier remarks last Friday, when he told reporters on the sidelines of the National People's Congress that the ministry is in talks with Google to resolve their dispute.

But Miao Wei, vice-minister of MIIT, said during a formal group interview with reporters: "We have never received a request from Google for any negotiations and neither have we had any direct contact with them."

The vice-minister was apparently answering the question based on a printed response.

Google declined on Monday to comment on this report, but an employee from Google's local public relations firm told China Daily that they are also puzzled by the ambiguous expression from the government.

It remains unclear how Google's high-profile spat with the Chinese government is going. But Chinese officials have made two things seemingly clear in past remarks: the government is unlikely to give special treatment to Google on its request to provide unfiltered search results, and the country apparently does not want the Google issue to become a political dispute.

'Google will have to follow our rules'

Miao Wei, vice-minister of industry and information technology, talks about Google's threat to pull out of China in a group interview on March 6 on the sidelines of the National People's Congress. Excerpts follow:

Q: What do you have to say about Google's threat to pull out of China?

Every firm has the right to decide whether or not to continue running its business in China. If Google finally decides to pull out of China, we will respect that decision. But the pullout has to follow certain Chinese laws and regulations. And Google should understand the aftermath of the action. We will continue to provide a hospitable environment for all Internet firms around the world.

Q: Google claimed the Chinese government was involved in the cyber attack on the company on Jan 12 and it has identified two Chinese schools, Shanghai Jiaotong University and Lanxiang Vocational College. What's your view on that claim?

We know that Google claimed that cyber attacks were the reason it was considering halting operations in China. As a matter of fact, many Chinese websites also fall victim to hackers. The Chinese government has always opposed the illegal act of hacking.

We don't know if any Chinese schools have participated in the online attacks as Google claims, but according to our information, Lanxiang Vocational College is a school for aspiring chefs, not hackers. We welcome Google providing further information about the details of the attacks. We are willing to help investigate, because China is a victim as well.

Q: How are the negotiations with Google progressing?

We have never received any request from Google for any negotiations. We are not in any direct contact with them.

Q: Google said it wanted to halt operations in China owing to online censorship. What's your comment?

In 2007, Google had promised that it was willing to obey Chinese laws and regulations. I think all countries impose certain limitations on how much online information is available to its citizens. If Google chooses to run its business in China, it has to follow our laws and regulations.

Q: The Google incident is now becoming a political spat between China and the United States. What's your view?

We don't think the problem is so severe that it will impact the bilateral relationship between China and the United States. We think both sides should ensure a technical problem does not become a political issue.

- Indian Journalist.