Background
- Internet search engine giant Google said it is evaluating its operations in China and may close its Chinese site, Google.cn and its office in the country, due to cyber attacks and challenges from government censorship. David Drummond, Google's chief legal officer, wrote in a blog post that on December 12, Google detected major cyber attacks originating from China. "These attacks and the surveillance, combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the web, have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China," Drummond wrote.
- Google's statement has raised widespread public concern. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said late December 12 that the U.S. government is taking the attack very seriously and looking to the Chinese government for an explanation. In the first official response to Google's potential pullout, China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said on December 14 that foreign internet firms are welcome to do business "according to the law".
Google vs. China: A Timeline of Events
- January 12: Google's chief legal officer David Drummond writes in a blog that the company is considering a pullout from China due to cyber attacks and challenges with government censorship.
- Late January 12: .S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says in a statement released late Tuesday night that the U.S. government is taking the attack very seriously and is looking to the Chinese government for an explanation.
- January 13: Xinhua News Agency quotes an unnamed official from the State Council Information Office as saying that the Chinese government is collecting related information on Google's potential pullout...>>
In-Depth
- CEO: Google Wishes to Remain in China
- Google's Schmidt makes statement after release of fourth-quarter results. 01.22.2010
- Google Cancels Phone Program in China
- China Unicom says it received the no-use notification for Google's logo late last year. 01.19.2010
- Will Google Quit China?
- Foreign ministry sidesteps issue, stand-off continues. 01.14.2010
- Google Considers China Pullout
- Citing cyber attacks and government censorship, Google changes its position. 01.13.2010
- Page Not Found
- A decade of tremendous growth for the Internet industry in China may be ending as resistant regulators and get-rich-quick schemes run amok. 01.11.2010
- Google Relocates China Operations
- Web search results in China from Internet giant Google are uncensored as of March 23, as Google redirects its Google China site to Google Hong Kong 03.23.2010
Google's History in China
- September 2000: Google starts offering a Chinese-language version of its search engine.
- July 2005: Google appoints former Microsoft executive Lee Kai-Fu as head of Google's China operations.
- January 2006: Google launches Google.cn under the supervision of the Chinese government.
- April 2006: Google unveils its Chinese name "Guge," marking the official entry to the China market.
- June 2009: The Chinese government criticizes Google for al lowing Google. cn to di splay pornography search results. Several Google services are blocked.
- September 2009: Lee Kai-Fu leaves Google China to start his own company.
- October 2009: Some Chinese authors say they are considering legal action over alleged copyright infringements by Google in the company's bookscanning project.
- January 2010: Google announces the end of censored search results on Google.cn and considers a pullout from China.
Blog
- Google's Blog: A New Approach to China
- Posted by David Drummond, SVP, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer
- Blog: An Epic Fight
- With Google gone, Baidu would feel the effects of a chill wind blowing through the internet industry, the most dynamic in the Chinese economy, as diversification of opinion was reduced.
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