在
谷歌(Google Inc.)做出将大陆用户导向未经审查香港网站的决定后，来自中国各界反应即有愤怒也有迷茫，与此同时，用户、谷歌员工及其合作伙伴都已准备好迎接此举可能带来的后果。中国政府现在没有明确采取行动阻止中国大陆网民访问谷歌香港网站Google.com.hk。
不过，中国政府拿出了过滤海外网站内容的措施来阻止大陆网民浏览Google.com.hk提供的部分政治敏感内容。
相关报导
一位员工在谈到谷歌北京办公室的气氛时说，大家一度对这件事有很多猜测，现在终于有个答案了，我们也轻松了许多。周二，谷歌北京办公室安排了很多保安人员，将大队记者挡在门外。
不过，这一决定仍留下了诸多不确定因素，例如Google.com.hk是否能保持可接入状态、谷歌能否继续在中国从事广告销售及研发等业务，以及此事会给谷歌在华合作伙伴带来什么样的影响。与谷歌有合作关系的公司包括门户网站新浪网(Sina.com)以及国有电信运营商中国移动(China Mobile Ltd.)等。
中国网上论坛天涯社区(Tianya.cn)首席执行长邢明说，还有许多细节需要澄清，谷歌与中方伙伴的合作能否继续也有待进一步讨论。谷歌为天涯社区提供搜索服务，且持有其部分股权。
谷歌发言人说公司将继续履行公司对客户及合作伙伴的合同义务。
新浪公关部门负责人说公司已经开发出了自己的搜索引擎，并可以用其替换首页上的谷歌搜索栏。中国移动并未回应记者的置评要求。
包括谷歌广告代理商在内的其他合作伙伴则表示截至周二谷歌一直未联络它们。一位代理商说它们为谷歌大陆网站Google.cn销售的广告出现在了香港Google.com.hk的简体字网站上。
European Pressphoto Agency
周二，保安站在谷歌北京办公楼的入口处
截至周二，谷歌移动和视频搜索等部分产品仍受到网络审查。谷歌发言人杰西卡•鲍尔(Jessica Powell)说谷歌移动日后也将被导向香港，只是因为技术原因而有所推迟。
谷歌另一位发言人说公司仍在Google.cn上运营着多项业务，但是以后将按照产品分门别类地审视每项服务的情况，然后再决定该怎么办。
举例来说，提供免费音乐播放及下载服务的谷歌音乐到周二仍正常运行。
分析人士说，谷歌不太可能被允许继续永久性地使用网址Google.cn。他们表示，中国互联网络信息中心现在可以取消谷歌使用Google.cn的许可，因为这个网址所指向的网站含有北京认为不合法的内容。该中心拒绝置评。
即使Google.cn不再运行，中国用户仍然可以访问谷歌的香港站点。
中国政府能够屏蔽大陆对谷歌香港站点的访问，就像它屏蔽Twitter和谷歌旗下YouTube等网站一样。但分析人士称，中国官方可能会避免采取如此严厉的步骤，因为他们担心这样会激怒谷歌庞大的用户群体。
但有关部门可以间歇性地屏蔽对谷歌香港站点的访问。至少他们肯定会继续使用其过滤技术，用以侦测被认为具有政治敏感性的关键词，并临时性地屏蔽搜索这些关键词的用户对网站的访问。
谷歌在中国的一些拥护者和前员工对它的行动表达了不满。一位与留在公司的朋友交谈过的前员工表示，存在失望，我相信也存在一定程度的愤怒。这位前员工说，此举应该是违背了谷歌早前表达的，在对审查有疑虑的情况下仍然致力于中国业务的决心。其首席执行长斯密特(Eric Schmidt)2006年发表的声明就反映了这一点，声明说，谷歌将采用一种长远观点来在中国取胜；中国人有5,000年的历史，谷歌有5,000年的耐心。
这位前员工说，现在听起来是如此讽刺；谷歌放弃了它曾经决定并决心要做的事情。
谷歌在周一的声明中说，其600名在华员工的未来将取决于事情的进展，一些员工可能会被调往其他地方或被解雇。声明强调，谷歌有关中国的决定是在美国做出的，在中国的任何员工都不能也不应该对此承担责任，并赞扬中国员工虽然自1月份的声明以来面临了诸多不确定和困难，仍继续为用户和客户提供服务。
谷歌的行动是一种高风险、戏剧性的对抗行为，事实或将证明，这是美国公司努力在华经营的历史上一个关键时刻。谷歌这一行动采取的策略，是希望一方面谨守公司关于信息自由的原则，一方面并不完全撤离这个国度，这让它在世界最重要市场之一的业务面临着不稳定的前景。
谷歌高管是在同中国官员会晤后作出这一决定的。知情人士称，在会晤中，谷歌讨论了它的计划，但北京方面没有认可。
哈佛法学院(Harvard Law School)互联网问题学者帕尔弗里(John Palfrey)说，如果能够维持下去，那么这是一个体面的解决办法，但我相信中国不会允许这种情况继续下去。
谷歌于2000年首次推出中文搜索服务，但这项服务是在美国运营，所以它的网站容易受到中国审查机构的间歇性屏蔽，对谷歌的访问请求有时候甚至还被他们转到中国的搜索网站。2006年，谷歌推出Google.cn，不过包括联合创始人布林(Sergey Brin)在内的一些高管对审查搜索结果存在保留意见。
谷歌在华业务仍然不多。券商Jefferies分析师斯考利(Youssef Squali)周一撰写报告称，Google.cn在谷歌净收入中只占1%到2%。
Loretta Chao
（更新完成）
Google Inc.'s decision to reroute its Chinese users to a search site in Hong Kong that it doesn't censor was met with a mixture of resentment and confusion in China, as users, employees and partners braced for potential fallout from the move.
Chinese authorities took no apparent action to block people in mainland China from reaching the Hong Kong site, Google.com.hk.
But the extensive filtering mechanisms the government uses against overseas Web content blocked users within China from seeing results for some politically sensitive search terms on the Hong Kong site.
The Google decision was met with relief by some of its Chinese staff, who have waited in limbo since the U.S. company first vowed more than two months ago to stop obeying Chinese censorship rules.
'There is a lot of relief at having some answers, after all the speculation as to what would happen,' said a Google China employee about the atmosphere at the Internet giant's Beijing office, which was heavily guarded on Tuesday to keep out a swarm of journalists.
Still, the move left a number of uncertainties, such as whether the Hong Kong site will remain accessible, whether Google will be allowed to continue to run its other Chinese operations -- including advertising sales and research and development -- and what impact there might be on Google's partnerships with Chinese companies such as Internet portal Sina.com and state-owned telecommunications carrier China Mobile Ltd.
'Many details need to be clarified,' said Xing Ming, chief executive of Chinese online forum Tianya.cn, which uses Google search on its site and in which Google owns a stake. 'There still needs to be further discussion on whether [Google] will continue cooperation with its Chinese partners, or drop out of the partnership.'
A Google spokeswoman said Google will fulfill its contractual obligations to customers and partners.
A public relations director at Sina said the company has developed its own search engine, and can use it in place of the Google search bar on its home page. China Mobile didn't respond to a request for comment.
Other Google partners, including Google's advertising resellers, said they weren't contacted by Google as of Tuesday. One reseller said it appeared the ads they sold for Google.cn were showing up the Hong Kong-based simplified Chinese Web site, Google.com.hk.
Chinese officials maintained their barrage of criticism against Google. At a regular briefing Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang dismissed the notion that the Google case had harmed China's reputation, saying 'The one whose reputation has been harmed isn't China, rather it is Google.' That followed a statement hours after Google's announcement from an official at the State Council Information Office blasting the company's move as 'totally wrong.'
Some Google products, including the company's mobile Web site and its video search service, were still being censored as of Tuesday. Google spokeswoman Jessica Powell said the mobile Web site will also be redirected to Hong Kong but that the rerouting has been delayed due to technicalities.
Another Google spokeswoman said the company still has 'a number of services' still operating on Google.cn, but that in the coming days it will be reviewing each service 'on a product-by-product basis and decide how to proceed.'
Google's music search, for example, a free music streaming and downloading service was still provided through Google.cn as of Tuesday.
Analysts said it is unlikely Google will be allowed to continue using the Google.cn address permanently. The China Internet Network Information Center can revoke Google's permission to use Google.cn now because it sends users to a site with content that Beijing deems unlawful, they said. The network center declined to comment.
Even if Google.cn stops functioning, Chinese users could still access the Hong Kong site.
China's government has the ability to block access to that inside China -- as it does to sites including Twitter and Google's YouTube -- but analysts say officials are likely to avoid such a draconian step for fear of angering Google's millions of users.
Still, authorities could intermittently block access to Google Hong Kong. At a minimum, they are certain to continue using their filtering technology, which detects terms considered politically sensitive and temporarily blocks access to sites for users searching those terms.
Some Google fans and former employees in China criticized its move. 'There is disappointment and I believe there's a certain level of anger as well,' said one former Google China staffer who has spoken to friends still at the company. The former staffer said the move seemed to contradict Google's earlier expressions of commitment to China despite its misgivings about censorship, as illustrated in a 2006 statement by Chief Executive Eric Schmidt that Google would 'take a long-term view to win in China. The Chinese have 5,000 years of history. Google has 5,000 years of patience.'
'This just sounds so ironic now,' said the former employee. 'Google walked away from what it had decided and committed to do.'
Google said in its Monday statement that the future of its 600 employees in China depends on how things play out, and that some might be relocated or laid off. The statement emphasized that Google's decisions about China were made in the U.S. 'and that none of our employees in China can, or should, be held responsible for them,' and praised the Chinese staffers for continuing to serve users and cust omers 'despite all the uncertainty and difficulties they have faced since we made our announcement in January.'
Google's move was a risky and dramatic act of defiance that could prove to be a pivotal moment in the history of U.S. companies' efforts to do business in China. It puts Google's business in one of the world's most important markets on rocky ground, using a strategy that seeks to preserve the company's principles about information freedom while still keeping a foot in the country.
Google executives reached the decision after meetings with Chinese officials at which the company discussed its plans but Beijing didn't sanction them, said a person familiar with the matter.
'This is an elegant solution if it were to hold, but I'm not convinced China will allow this to continue,' said John Palfrey, an Internet scholar at Harvard Law School.
Google first started a Chinese-language search service in 2000, but operated it from the U.S. so access to the site was vulnerable to pe riodic blocks by Chinese censors, who at times even redirected requests for Google to Chinese search sites. In 2006 Google opened Google.cn, though some executives, including co-founder Sergey Brin, had reservations about censoring the results.
Google's business in China remains small. Youssef Squali, an analyst at Jefferies, wrote Monday that Google.cn accounted for just 1% to 2% of the company's net revenue.
Loretta Chao
Chinese authorities took no apparent action to block people in mainland China from reaching the Hong Kong site, Google.com.hk.
But the extensive filtering mechanisms the government uses against overseas Web content blocked users within China from seeing results for some politically sensitive search terms on the Hong Kong site.
The Google decision was met with relief by some of its Chinese staff, who have waited in limbo since the U.S. company first vowed more than two months ago to stop obeying Chinese censorship rules.
'There is a lot of relief at having some answers, after all the speculation as to what would happen,' said a Google China employee about the atmosphere at the Internet giant's Beijing office, which was heavily guarded on Tuesday to keep out a swarm of journalists.
Still, the move left a number of uncertainties, such as whether the Hong Kong site will remain accessible, whether Google will be allowed to continue to run its other Chinese operations -- including advertising sales and research and development -- and what impact there might be on Google's partnerships with Chinese companies such as Internet portal Sina.com and state-owned telecommunications carrier China Mobile Ltd.
'Many details need to be clarified,' said Xing Ming, chief executive of Chinese online forum Tianya.cn, which uses Google search on its site and in which Google owns a stake. 'There still needs to be further discussion on whether [Google] will continue cooperation with its Chinese partners, or drop out of the partnership.'
A Google spokeswoman said Google will fulfill its contractual obligations to customers and partners.
A public relations director at Sina said the company has developed its own search engine, and can use it in place of the Google search bar on its home page. China Mobile didn't respond to a request for comment.
Other Google partners, including Google's advertising resellers, said they weren't contacted by Google as of Tuesday. One reseller said it appeared the ads they sold for Google.cn were showing up the Hong Kong-based simplified Chinese Web site, Google.com.hk.
Chinese officials maintained their barrage of criticism against Google. At a regular briefing Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang dismissed the notion that the Google case had harmed China's reputation, saying 'The one whose reputation has been harmed isn't China, rather it is Google.' That followed a statement hours after Google's announcement from an official at the State Council Information Office blasting the company's move as 'totally wrong.'
Some Google products, including the company's mobile Web site and its video search service, were still being censored as of Tuesday. Google spokeswoman Jessica Powell said the mobile Web site will also be redirected to Hong Kong but that the rerouting has been delayed due to technicalities.
Another Google spokeswoman said the company still has 'a number of services' still operating on Google.cn, but that in the coming days it will be reviewing each service 'on a product-by-product basis and decide how to proceed.'
Google's music search, for example, a free music streaming and downloading service was still provided through Google.cn as of Tuesday.
Analysts said it is unlikely Google will be allowed to continue using the Google.cn address permanently. The China Internet Network Information Center can revoke Google's permission to use Google.cn now because it sends users to a site with content that Beijing deems unlawful, they said. The network center declined to comment.
Even if Google.cn stops functioning, Chinese users could still access the Hong Kong site.
China's government has the ability to block access to that inside China -- as it does to sites including Twitter and Google's YouTube -- but analysts say officials are likely to avoid such a draconian step for fear of angering Google's millions of users.
Still, authorities could intermittently block access to Google Hong Kong. At a minimum, they are certain to continue using their filtering technology, which detects terms considered politically sensitive and temporarily blocks access to sites for users searching those terms.
Some Google fans and former employees in China criticized its move. 'There is disappointment and I believe there's a certain level of anger as well,' said one former Google China staffer who has spoken to friends still at the company. The former staffer said the move seemed to contradict Google's earlier expressions of commitment to China despite its misgivings about censorship, as illustrated in a 2006 statement by Chief Executive Eric Schmidt that Google would 'take a long-term view to win in China. The Chinese have 5,000 years of history. Google has 5,000 years of patience.'
'This just sounds so ironic now,' said the former employee. 'Google walked away from what it had decided and committed to do.'
Google said in its Monday statement that the future of its 600 employees in China depends on how things play out, and that some might be relocated or laid off. The statement emphasized that Google's decisions about China were made in the U.S. 'and that none of our employees in China can, or should, be held responsible for them,' and praised the Chinese staffers for continuing to serve users and cust omers 'despite all the uncertainty and difficulties they have faced since we made our announcement in January.'
Google's move was a risky and dramatic act of defiance that could prove to be a pivotal moment in the history of U.S. companies' efforts to do business in China. It puts Google's business in one of the world's most important markets on rocky ground, using a strategy that seeks to preserve the company's principles about information freedom while still keeping a foot in the country.
Google executives reached the decision after meetings with Chinese officials at which the company discussed its plans but Beijing didn't sanction them, said a person familiar with the matter.
'This is an elegant solution if it were to hold, but I'm not convinced China will allow this to continue,' said John Palfrey, an Internet scholar at Harvard Law School.
Google first started a Chinese-language search service in 2000, but operated it from the U.S. so access to the site was vulnerable to pe riodic blocks by Chinese censors, who at times even redirected requests for Google to Chinese search sites. In 2006 Google opened Google.cn, though some executives, including co-founder Sergey Brin, had reservations about censoring the results.
Google's business in China remains small. Youssef Squali, an analyst at Jefferies, wrote Monday that Google.cn accounted for just 1% to 2% of the company's net revenue.
Loretta Chao
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