Activists "cry," state media sneer at Google exit (News Feature)

By Bill Smith Mar 23, 2010, 6:55 GMT

Beijing - Chinese rights activists on Tuesday lamented Google Inc's decision to close its main website in China and divert it to an uncensored Hong Kong-based version, but state media continued a barrage of tough rhetoric against the US internet giant.

'Seeing that Google has gone, I feel very, very upset,' said Liu Shasha, a rights activist from the central province of Henan.

'There is no hope for democracy in China. I want to cry,' Liu said in a text message.

Rights lawyer Teng Biao reacted with a mock announcement on board a train called 'The Harmony,' a common recent name for Chinese trains that reflects the ruling Communist Party's drive for stability and a 'harmonious society.'

'Hello everyone! The Harmony train reminds everyone: the passenger Google, because it didn't obey the train's rules, was forced to get off,' Teng said on his Twitter blog.

'Please, all passengers must respect the rules, close the curtains, and do not look at the scenery outside the window,' Teng wrote.

'The train is about to turn around,' he said. 'Next stop: Pyongyang.'

Popular blogger and rights activist Zhao Jing, who uses the online name Michael Anti, invoked China's most famous ancient philosopher.

'Google is right, for Confucius has already told us: It's not proper to enter a dangerous country,' Zhao said.

'For Hong Kongers like myself, Google's move shows how valuable Hong Kong's autonomy is,' Zhao said. 'We must not budge, not an inch.'

Renowned artist Ai Weiwei said Google was departing from a 'malicious law.'

'When the sandstorms came, Google left,' Ai said, referring to sandstorms this week in his home city of Beijing. 'Google's eyes cannot hold the sand,' he added.

The simplified Chinese version of the uncensored google.com.hk site was still accessible in China on Tuesday afternoon.

Search results displayed links to sensitive content and websites such as Amnesty International, but sites normally blocked in China remained inaccessible.

News reports on Google's decision could be opened but access was blocked to the English blog on which David Drummond, Google's chief legal officer, announced the company's decision on Monday.

In anticipation of Google's widely expected announcement, state media on Monday accused the US firm of 'politicizing' the issues of censorship and hacking.

The China Daily newspaper said Google had 'suddenly announced it no longer wants to follow the rules it had no trouble following earlier' after operating under China's online restrictions for four years.

Google had not publicly campaigned against China's requirement to censor search results before it discovered a hacking attack that it said originated in China.

Drummond said on Monday that during the investigation of the attack it had 'uncovered evidence to suggest that the Gmail accounts of dozens of human rights activists connected with China were being routinely accessed by third parties, most likely via phishing scams or malware placed on their computers.'

He said Google was also unhappy with 'attempts over the last year to further limit free speech on the web in China including the persistent blocking of websites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google Docs and Blogger.'

In another commentary on Tuesday, China Daily suggested that Google might be trying to renege on a commitment to settle a mass online copyright dispute with the Chinese Writers' Association.

Google had promised to produce an outline agreement by the end of March to resolve a claim for copyright violations on some 8,000 books by 2,600 Chinese writers, it said.

'If Google breaks its word with the Chinese writers, its credibility in China will only plunge deeper,' the commentary said.

'The attempt to make its exit from China a political battle has already jeopardized the company's credibility and made it increasingly unpopular among Chinese netizens,' it said.

The Global Times newspaper, part of the Communist Party's People's Daily group, said it had conducted on online survey in which 84 per cent of 27,000 respondents chose the 'don't care' option when asked their opinion on Google's closure of the google.cn site.

Zhao said Google's decision would 'not affect people too much' as internet users who were happy to accept government censorship would continue to use Baidu, which already enjoys a 60-per-cent share of the market.

'It is Google's choice,' Zhao said. 'People who love Google and hate censorship will follow google.com, and use VPN (virtual private networks) and other software.'

Zhao said he did not expect Google's decision to affect its other interests in China. But he said there could be a 'big psychological influence' on foreign firms who may 'believe the rules in China are different from the [rest of the] world.'