China
Google leaves mainland China, moves to Hong KongPosted Apr 6 2010
Google announced that its censored Chinese search engine, google.cn, will permanently redirect users to the uncensored Hong Kong Web site, google.com.hk.
“We believe this new approach of providing uncensored search in simplified Chinese from Google.com.hk is a sensible solution to the challenges we've faced—it's entirely legal and will meaningfully increase access to information for people in China,” states David Drummond on the official Google blog.
In January, Google announced that the company would possibly abandon its Beijing headquarters because of repeated cyber attacks that left the Gmail accounts of many human rights activists open to third-parties.
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China reported later that month that several reporters who use Gmail also found that their accounts had been hacked, with e-mail messages forwarded to unknown parties.
The Committee to Protect Journalists issued a statement in favor of Google’s move to an uncensored site.
“We hope that it ramps up pressure on the Chinese government to allow its citizens to access the news and information they need to be informed and engaged citizens,” says CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney.
Because China could block access to Google at any time, Google opened a new Web site detailing which Google services and affiliates are currently accessible to users in mainland China.
However, Australian newspaper The Age notes that the Chinese government has allowed the unfiltered search engine to remain active, even as controversial Web sites remain blocked by firewalls.