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China plays down Google spat ahead of
Clinton speech
CYBERATTACKS: The head of Alibaba, China¡¦s largest
e-commerce firm, said Google was looking for ¡¥excuses¡¦ for its failures by
blaming Beijing
REUTERS , BEIJING
Friday, Jan 22, 2010, Page 5
Google¡¦s dispute with China should not be ¡§over-interpreted¡¨ or seen as
influencing Sino-US ties, a senior Chinese minister said yesterday before a
planned speech by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Internet freedom.
Clinton¡¦s speech planned for Washington yesterday could be seen in Beijing as
throwing down a gauntlet, a week after search engine giant Google said it had
been the target of sophisticated cyber-spying from China.
¡§The Google incident should not be linked to bilateral relations, otherwise that
would be over-interpreting it,¡¨ Xinhua news agency quoted Vice Foreign Minister
He Yafei (¦ó¨È«D) as saying.
¡§In the year that [US President Barack] Obama has been in office, the
development of China-US relations has been basically stable,¡¨ He said in
comments to Chinese journalists carried on the China Daily¡¦s Web site.
He appeared to be seeking to play down potential fallout from the Google
dispute, which could compound tensions with Washington over trade, currency
policy, human rights and climate change.
¡§The Chinese government encourages the development of the Internet in China, but
there must be observance of Chinese law,¡¨ He said.
¡§If Google or other foreign firms have any problems in China, these should be
resolved according to Chinese law, and the Chinese government is willing to help
resolve their problems,¡¨ he said.
Google, the world¡¦s top search engine, said it may shut its Chinese-language
google.cn Web site and offices in China after a cyber-attack originating from
China that also targeted others.
The company also said it would discuss with the Chinese government ways to offer
an unfiltered search engine, or pull out. Searches for sensitive topics on
google.cn are still largely being censored.
¡§Managing the Internet is a matter of national security. A lot of countries
practise oversight of the Internet, and so does China. It is a very normal
thing,¡¨ He said.
Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are blocked in China.
Weighing into the debate, Jack Ma (°¨¶³), the outspoken chief executive of China¡¦s
largest e-commerce firm Alibaba, said this week Google was looking for ¡§excuses¡¨
by blaming China.
Ma¡¦s statement at an economic forum in Taiwan were Alibaba¡¦s second condemnation
of Google¡¦s face-off with Beijing following charges of the cyber-attack.
¡§People who fail always make excuses,¡¨ Ma said.
¡§I think there are how many foreign firms that have come to China and fallen,
five or six? And there are more than 5,000 fallen Chinese firms,¡¨ he said.
¡§They say they lack government connections, lack mo
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