SAN FRANCISCO — Google Inc. stopped censoring the Internet for China by shifting its search engine off the mainland Monday, but it said the company would maintain other operations in the country. The maneuver attempts to balance Google’s disdain for China’s Internet rules with its desire to profit from an explosively growing market.
On Monday, visitors to were being redirected to Google’s Chinese-language service based in Hong Kong. Google does not censor those results, but Chinese government filters can restrict the results seen by mainland audiences.
Reacting quickly to Google’s decision to stop censoring the Internet, China accused the company of violating written promises.
The official Xinhua News Agency quoted an official today at the Internet bureau of the State Council Information Office as saying Google broke a vow it made when entering the Chinese market by halting the filtering of its searching service and added insult to injury by insinuating China was behind hacking attacks on the company.
The official said: “This is totally wrong. We’re uncompromisingly opposed to the politicization of commercial issues and express our discontent and indignation to Google for its unreasonable accusations and conducts.”
The Hong Kong page heralded the shift, declaring: “Welcome to Google Search in China’s new home.”
Google’s move comes after a 2 1/2-month impasse pitting the world’s most powerful Internet company against the government of the world’s most populous country.
Google plans to keep its engineering and sales offices in China so it can keep a technological toehold in the country.
Although Hong Kong is part of China, the former British colony was granted a degree of autonomy when it returned to Chinese rule 13 years ago. Its legal and political freedoms were largely preserved, making Hong Kong an appealing home base for companies operating in mainland China.
