China has not made any significant comment since Google, the world’s top search engine, said it would not abide by censorship and may shut its Chinese-language google.cn website because of attacks from China on human rights activists using its Gmail service and on dozens of companies.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke urged China to work with Google and other firms to ensure cyber security, calling the intrusion “troubling to the U.S. government and American companies doing business in China.”
“The administration encourages the government of China to work with Google and other U.S. companies to ensure a climate for secure commercial operations in the Chinese market,” he said.
A senior U.S. official said, “What’s important for China is that virtually everybody who heard that announcement yesterday went ‘Wow!’
“It is a big deal … that one of the world’s most recognizable companies is sending a very clear message to China,” he said.
Media freedom groups that had severely criticized Google’s previous compliance with Chinese curbs praised the company’s decision and called for other firms to follow suit.
“A foreign IT company has finally accepted its responsibilities toward Chinese users and is standing up to the Chinese authorities, who keep clamping down more and more on the Internet,” said Reporters Without Borders.
But investors were spooked and U.S. and Chinese analysts warned of turbulent bilateral ties in 2010.
