China shows no signs of backing down in Google fight

Google threatened to pull out of China after a sophisticated
cyber attack on its corporate infrastructure that also affected about 20 other
companies. The attacks appeared to be aimed at accessing the Gmail accounts of
human rights activists in China, according to Google.

The attacks also may have been aimed at gathering
information on company technologies.

Google has said it will stop censoring the responses its
search engines offer in China, which will set it up for a clash with China’s
government. It has also said it might end its Google.cn site, which is based in
China.

Members of Congress including Speaker Nancy Pelosi
(D-Calif.) have praised Google for threatening to remove itself from the
country. Administration officials including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
have demanded an explanation from China.

Jiang offered no signs of a compromise in her comments at
the news conference.

“China welcomes international Internet companies to conduct
business within the country according to law,” she said. “China’s law prohibits
cyber crimes including hacker attacks.”