在
声称将不再遵守中国政府的游戏规则后，谷歌(Google Inc.)正在规划怎样以一种规模较小的全新方式在华展开运营。周二，谷歌宣布推迟在中国发布两款基于Android操作系统的手机。这一决定明确地显示出它将在中国手机市场这一重要领域向后撤退。
这两款手机是谷歌与三星电子(Samsung Electronics Co.)和摩托罗拉公司(Motorola Inc.)联手开发的，绑定了搜索和地图等许多谷歌特有的功能。根据原计划，它们原定于周三，即今日由中国联通(China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd.)推出。
一位知情人士透露，由于考虑到许多服务前景难料，谷歌认为现在在中国市场推出这两款手机“不负责任”。谷歌并未表示这两款手机的推出将延后多长时间，也没有提供更多细节信息。
其他知情人士也称，谷歌还在对面向中国市场的音乐搜索服务、Gmail邮件、谷歌地图以及其他产品进行评估。
据了解近况的人士透露，谷歌管理层并不认为公司将从中国这个全球网民最多的国家全线撤退。他们说，谷歌高管希望公司将可以保留中国员工团队，在华办公室也将继续运转。目前，谷歌在中国共有约700名雇员。
上述知情人说，谷歌还将设法进一步改善Google.com中文版在中国的表现。这是公司设在中国境外的中文网站。
无论谷歌有何打算，它能做什么还是由中国政府说了算。自从谷歌宣布计划停止自我审查中文搜索服务以来，北京方面至今仍未采取任何正式行动，在此期间政府官员只是强调谷歌必须遵守中国法律。
观察人士说，谷歌几乎不可能以自己的方式在华经营。哈佛法学院教授约翰•帕弗瑞(John Palfrey)说，我认为中国不可能放任谷歌做出像上周那样的行为。
Reuters
其他熟悉中国政府对互联网态度的人士说，如果谷歌真的想留在中国，它其实应该选择进行幕后谈判。谷歌的发言人拒绝谈论该公司声明的背后想法。
在谷歌与中国政府的谈判取得更多进展前，无法清楚了解谷歌想把什么业务继续留在中国，以及中国方面对此的反应。当谷歌上周表示将停止审查搜索内容时，并没有把话说死，它说，“如果有可能的话，公司和中国政府将讨论在什么样的基础上我们能够在法律框架内运营未经过滤的搜索引擎”，这等于是说谈判结果有可能影响到谷歌在华的下一步打算。
谷歌与中国政府官员谈判的情况尚不清楚。谷歌称在它宣布停止审查其搜索结果前已将此事通知了中国政府。该公司是在遭遇一次重大的黑客袭击事件后作此宣布的，谷歌说它追踪到这一袭击源自中国。但据了解谷歌计划的人说，该公司预计与中国高级官员展开谈判还要等上些时间。
与此同时，美国政府也参与了进来。美国助理国务卿坎贝尔(Kurt Campbell)周二对记者们说，在谷歌表示受到中国黑客袭击后美国政府已经就互联网自由问题与中国方面进行过接触，中国官员否认了谷歌的指控。他说，美国政府已经就这一问题与中国政府进行了多次接触，今后几天还将进一步接触。
中国外交部一位发言人重申，外国企业在华经营应遵守中国的法律法规，“谷歌当然也不例外”。
据一位了解情况的人士说，谷歌管理人士设想，该公司中国业务未来的一种可能性是，回到类似于谷歌四年前的在华状态，那时它还没有推出内容经过审查的搜索引擎Google.cn。
如果出现这种情况，Google.cn将停止存在，谷歌将保留其在华办公室，并继续改进中文版Google.com的性能。上述人士说，谷歌承认，届时Google.com预计会时不时被中国政府屏蔽，就像以往曾经发生的那样。
最近几年，中国政府曾长时间屏蔽Facebook和YouTube等网站，后者是谷歌的视频网站。
与此同时，中国网民则在看，谷歌何时将执行那个据它说已经作出的决定──不再审查Google.cn的搜索结果。据了解谷歌业务的人士说，这一进程将是一个“巨大”努力。截至北京时间周二夜间，谷歌仍在审查搜索结果。
Jessica E. Vascellaro / Aaron Back
Google Inc., after asserting that it won't play by the Chinese government's rules, is plotting what a new, smaller China footprint could look like.
Tuesday, Google sent a strong signal that it may retreat from one major endeavor -- its pursuit of China's cellphone market -- by delaying the planned China launch of two phones that use its Android operating system.
The phones, made in partnership with Samsung Electronics Co. and Motorola Inc., are packed with Google features such as mobile search and maps, and were to be launched on Chinese carrier China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. Wednesday.
But due to uncertainty over the future of many Google offerings in China, the U.S. Internet company felt it would be 'irresponsible ' to release the phones in China at this time, said a person familiar with the situation. Google didn't say how long it is delaying the launch or provide other details.
The Mountain View, Calif., company is also reviewing its Chinese music-search service, as well as Chinese-market versions of its Gmail service, Google Maps and other products, said people familiar with the matter.
Google executives don't believe the company will make a full withdrawal from China -- home to more Internet users than any other nation, according to people briefed on the matter. Executives are hopeful they can keep employees in China and continue to operate offices there, according to these people. The company has about 700 workers in China.
Google is also looking at ways to continue to improve the performance of Google.com in China, a Chinese version of Google located outside the countries' borders, these people said.
Regardless of what Google wants to do, what it will be allowed to do is up to the Chinese government. While government officials have stressed that Google must abide by China's laws, Beijing hasn't taken any formal action since the company said it planned to stop self-censoring its Chinese search site.
Observers said there's little chance Google will get its way. 'I don't think it is likely that they could get a free pass for what they done in the past week,' said John Palfrey, a professor at Harvard Law School.
Mr. Palfrey said the likelihood that Google will receive any licenses that could be necessary for it to sell ads to Chinese customers, even on its other properties, is slim. 'I would be very surprised if the Chinese government gives Google carte blanche to sell its services, having snubbed its nose at the censorship regime.'
Other people familiar with Chinese authorities' approach to the Internet said that if Google really wanted to stay in China it would have negotiated behind closed doors. A Google spokesman declined to comment about the thinking behind its announcement.
What businesses Google will push to keep in China, along with how China responds, won't become clear until negotiations are more advanced. When Google said it would stop censoring its search engine last week, it left open the possibility that negotiations between the two sides could shape it plans, saying 'we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all.'
The state of negotiations between Google and Chinese administration officials is unclear. Google said it notified the Chinese administration before announcing its decision to cease censoring its search results in the wake of a major cyber attack it said it traced to China. But Google was expecting it to take some time before it held meetings with senior administration officials, said people familiar with its plans.
Meanwhile, the U.S. government has stepped in. Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told reporters Tuesday the government has met with China over Internet freedom following Google's allegations and that China officials had denied the allegations. 'The U.S. government has had multiple meetings with Chinese authorities on this matter and will have more in the coming days,' he said.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman reiterated that foreign enterprises doing business in China should respect its laws and regulations, saying, 'Google is of course no exception.'
One possibility that Google executives envision for its China operations is something along the lines of Google's status in the country four years ago, before it launched its censored search engine Google.cn, according to one of the people briefed.
Under that scenario, Google.cn would cease to exist and Google would keep China offices and continue to improve the performance of the Chinese language version of Google.com. This person said Google recognized that the site would likely be subject to periodic blocking by the government, as it has been in the past.
In recent years, Web sites including Facebook and Google's YouTube video site, have been blocked for long periods of time.
Meanwhile, Chinese Internet users are watching for when Google will execute the one decision it said it has made -- discontinuing censoring Google.cn. People familiar with Google's operations said this process would be a 'huge' endeavor. As of Tuesday night in Beijing, Google was still censoring results.
Jessica E. Vascellaro / Aaron Back
Tuesday, Google sent a strong signal that it may retreat from one major endeavor -- its pursuit of China's cellphone market -- by delaying the planned China launch of two phones that use its Android operating system.
The phones, made in partnership with Samsung Electronics Co. and Motorola Inc., are packed with Google features such as mobile search and maps, and were to be launched on Chinese carrier China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. Wednesday.
But due to uncertainty over the future of many Google offerings in China, the U.S. Internet company felt it would be 'irresponsible ' to release the phones in China at this time, said a person familiar with the situation. Google didn't say how long it is delaying the launch or provide other details.
The Mountain View, Calif., company is also reviewing its Chinese music-search service, as well as Chinese-market versions of its Gmail service, Google Maps and other products, said people familiar with the matter.
Google executives don't believe the company will make a full withdrawal from China -- home to more Internet users than any other nation, according to people briefed on the matter. Executives are hopeful they can keep employees in China and continue to operate offices there, according to these people. The company has about 700 workers in China.
Google is also looking at ways to continue to improve the performance of Google.com in China, a Chinese version of Google located outside the countries' borders, these people said.
Regardless of what Google wants to do, what it will be allowed to do is up to the Chinese government. While government officials have stressed that Google must abide by China's laws, Beijing hasn't taken any formal action since the company said it planned to stop self-censoring its Chinese search site.
Observers said there's little chance Google will get its way. 'I don't think it is likely that they could get a free pass for what they done in the past week,' said John Palfrey, a professor at Harvard Law School.
Mr. Palfrey said the likelihood that Google will receive any licenses that could be necessary for it to sell ads to Chinese customers, even on its other properties, is slim. 'I would be very surprised if the Chinese government gives Google carte blanche to sell its services, having snubbed its nose at the censorship regime.'
Other people familiar with Chinese authorities' approach to the Internet said that if Google really wanted to stay in China it would have negotiated behind closed doors. A Google spokesman declined to comment about the thinking behind its announcement.
What businesses Google will push to keep in China, along with how China responds, won't become clear until negotiations are more advanced. When Google said it would stop censoring its search engine last week, it left open the possibility that negotiations between the two sides could shape it plans, saying 'we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all.'
The state of negotiations between Google and Chinese administration officials is unclear. Google said it notified the Chinese administration before announcing its decision to cease censoring its search results in the wake of a major cyber attack it said it traced to China. But Google was expecting it to take some time before it held meetings with senior administration officials, said people familiar with its plans.
Meanwhile, the U.S. government has stepped in. Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told reporters Tuesday the government has met with China over Internet freedom following Google's allegations and that China officials had denied the allegations. 'The U.S. government has had multiple meetings with Chinese authorities on this matter and will have more in the coming days,' he said.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman reiterated that foreign enterprises doing business in China should respect its laws and regulations, saying, 'Google is of course no exception.'
One possibility that Google executives envision for its China operations is something along the lines of Google's status in the country four years ago, before it launched its censored search engine Google.cn, according to one of the people briefed.
Under that scenario, Google.cn would cease to exist and Google would keep China offices and continue to improve the performance of the Chinese language version of Google.com. This person said Google recognized that the site would likely be subject to periodic blocking by the government, as it has been in the past.
In recent years, Web sites including Facebook and Google's YouTube video site, have been blocked for long periods of time.
Meanwhile, Chinese Internet users are watching for when Google will execute the one decision it said it has made -- discontinuing censoring Google.cn. People familiar with Google's operations said this process would be a 'huge' endeavor. As of Tuesday night in Beijing, Google was still censoring results.
Jessica E. Vascellaro / Aaron Back
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