Google cleared over Chinese probe - says Google

By Matt Whipp

Posted on 23 Feb 2006 at 16:53

Google says it has been given the go-ahead for its Chinese operation after the Chinese authorities licensed it under its partner Ganji.com.

It was revealed that Google's .cn search service was not properly licensed as a Internet Content Provider (ICP), which it needs to operate from within the country.

Chinese news agency Xinhua reports that the President of Google.cn, Kai-fu Lee, has announced the licence has been granted after close discussion with the Chinese government and that Google is 'willing to receive guidance' from the authorities.

However, the Chinese Ministry of Information Industry, the regulator of the IT industry, says its investigation into Google's use of a Chinese partner for a licence has yet to publish its results.

Google has been under close scrutiny from all quarters ever since it launched its .cn service. At a recent Congressional hearing in the US, it along with other tech giants operating in the People's Republic, were slammed by California congressman Tom Lantos. 'Your abhorrent activities in China are a disgrace. I simply do not understand how your corporate leadership sleeps at night,' he told them.

The Chinese government is also only too well aware of Google's high profile as the rush into China by western tech companies continues apace.

A Forbes report from Beijing suggests that the questioning of the legal status of Google.cn is as much a show of political power as it is of enforcing the law.

While many western tech firms team up with Chinese counterparts in order to smooth the political path, most end up acquiring those companies. Other reports suggest that Google's decision to partner rather than buy a Chinese counterpart is a factor in the investigation: a means of nudging Google to invest more heavily in China and intimidate it into fuller compliance with its censorship demands.