US, Google and China square off over Internet

WASHINGTON/BEIJING, (Reuters) – Google’s threat to  quit China over censorship and hacking intensified Sino-U.S.  frictions yesterday as Washington said it had serious  concerns and demanded an explanation from Beijing.

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.