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US plans
formal protest to China over Google attack
BLOOMBERG
Sunday, Jan 17, 2010, Page 1
The US will issue a formal protest to the Chinese government demanding an
explanation for the cyber attack on Google Inc that the company says originated
from China.
¡§We will be issuing a formal demarche in Beijing,¡¨ likely early this week, to
express US unease about the incident, State Department spokesman Philip Crowley
said in Washington on Friday.
A demarche is a diplomatic protest.
Google said on Monday it would stop censoring results on its search engine in
China, as required by that country¡¦s government, because of ¡§highly
sophisticated¡¨ attacks on its Web site and the e-mail accounts of Chinese rights
activists.
The US decision to lodge a formal diplomatic protest underscores the seriousness
of the issue, analysts said yesterday.
Google briefed the Obama administration before it took action. Representatives
of the company spoke with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about the matter
last week and had discussions with Obama¡¦s national security advisers,
administration officials said.
Google didn¡¦t seek US government help and administration officials didn¡¦t
encourage or argue against proceeding, aides said, speaking on condition of
anonymity.
Alec Ross, Clinton¡¦s senior adviser for innovation, said on administration of US
President Barack Obama views the allegations of cyber attacks as more than a
commercial dispute.
¡§I don¡¦t think that we¡¦re looking at these issues through the prism of American
business interests,¡¨ he said ¡§The United States has frequently made clear to the
Chinese our views on the importance of unrestricted Internet use as well as
cyber security, and we look to the Chinese government for an explanation.¡¨
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