Google’s exit a plot, says China Daily

BEIJING - Google’s exit from China is a “deliberate plot”, a Chinese daily said Thursday, adding that Google’s services in India and some other countries were also “under scrutiny”.

An article in China Daily stressed that the US company’s withdrawal “from the Chinese mainland is a deliberate plot”.

“Google’s withdrawal is not a purely commercial act. The incident has from the beginning been implicated in Washington’s political games with China.”

The article by Ding Yifan, a researcher at the Development Research Center under the State Council, pointed out that “Google’s services in Germany, France, India and other countries are also under scrutiny”.

In January, Google threatened to leave after alleged cyber-attacks. It also said it won’t filter its Chinese-language search results.

Google moved its Chinese-language search engine site to Hong Kong and stopped censoring its Chinese search results Monday.

The article said that a few days before Google made its announcement, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “lavishly praised” it for its role in helping the Obama administration realise its foreign policies.

Clinton spoke about Google’s “positive role in instilling US political stances and values into Georgian and Iranian street politics to sway local public opinion… the White House believes that Google alone cannot play a large role in China as it did in Georgia and Iran”.

Days later, Google announced the withdrawal of its search service from the world’s largest Internet market saying it could not tolerate strict internet censorship mandated by the Chinese government.

The article accused Google of enjoying “intimate links with the Obama administration” and said: “The company was one of the four major sponsors of President Barack Obama during his presidential campaign… Close connections between the two make it natural for Google to be devoted to serve the Obama administration’s foreign strategy.”

It stated: “The search engine leader’s exit from the Chinese mainland is a deliberate plot.”

“Google’s case is in essence part of the US’ Internet intrusive strategy worldwide under the excuse that it advocates a free internet.”