Beijing, China — In a head-to-head confrontation with the Chinese government, internet search powerhouse Google Inc. late Tuesday said it might exit China after an investigation revealed that the company had adversely been hit with major cyber attacks on email accounts of human rights activists using Google’s Gmail service, which it believes originated from the country — a move that would amount to a high-profile rebuke of China by a major U.S. firm.
This is a heroic change in Google’s policy toward doing business in China, Google said it experienced a “highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure, with the probes originating from China” beginning in mid-December, which it said resulted in “the theft of intellectual property,” Google said in a blog post.
The search giant said the investigation revealed evidence indicating that the important goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human-rights activists. The company further said that the attack was directed at as many as 34 different companies or other entities, according to two people familiar with the investigation, which has been under way for weeks.
Google published a lengthy blog post late Tuesday written by David Drummond, senior vice president of corporate development and chief legal officer, discussing the decision to review its policy toward China:
These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered–combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the Web–have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China. We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks, 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. We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn and potentially our offices in China.
“We realize that this may well mean having to close down Google.cn and potentially our offices in China,” said Drummond.
Thus far it is not apparent whether the Chinese government was behind the attacks, but the company said it is no longer willing to carryout censoring the results on its Chinese search engine, as required by the Chinese government.
Investigators are examining whether the attack is connected to the Chinese government or intelligence services, one person familiar with the investigation said. The attack has angered the interest of U.S. intelligence agencies, including the National Security Agency, this person added. That could prompt the government to kick Google out of the country.
Immediately after the surprising announcement, Google’s China website began to offer reports and images of the Tiananmen Square massacre and other highly sensitive events that Beijing has suppressed for decades.
The surprise move was supported by a signal from Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of State, that she was readying to push her weight behind a campaign against China’s lack of free speech.
The State department said that Mrs. Clinton had communicated with executives from Google and Microsoft, as well as with Cisco Systems, which provides much of China’s Internet infrastructure, to discuss how to stop countries from “stifling” access to information.
Google began its operation in China around 2006 with the launch of Google.cn. Far ahead the search giant was aware before entering that it would be compelled to censor search results in accordance with the policies of the Chinese government. But it estimated that it could live up to its famous “Don’t Be Evil” motto without passing up the business opportunity in the fast-growing Chinese market by simply notifying Web searchers that their results had been censored due to local laws.
Now, for Google to pull out from China would be an extremely rare refusal by a Western company of what is almost globally regarded in business circles as one of the world’s most important markets. The country has 338 million Internet users as of June, more than any other country.
Google’s initiative appeared as it has been in negotiations with Chinese authorities over various Google services in China. Last year, to appease Chinese officials, Google agreed to remove some links on its China homepage.
The company said only two Gmail accounts appeared to have been accessed. A spokesman said none of Google’s services experienced significant disruptions.
“These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered — combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech over the Web — have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China,” Drummond wrote.
Google’s action has become the hotly debated topic within the senior ranks of the company, according to two people familiar with the matter. Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt was concerned about the potential backlash, but operating in China has been a concern of Google co-founder Sergey Brin in particular, these people said.
Now, if Google decides to continue operating in China, it then takes the chance that its threat to close down will further deteriorate its already unstable relationship with Chinese authorities, who wield ultimate power over all Internet companies doing business there and could, ultimately, force Google’s departure anyway. Google’s business in China goes beyond its search service — Chinese wireless carriers, for example, have been planning to sell mobile phones using the U.S. company’s Android operating system.
Chinese officials could not be reached immediately for comment. Nevertheless, the government in the past has repeatedly guarded its handling of the Internet, and has rejected accusations that China is responsible for cyber attacks against foreign entities. Microsoft and Yahoo, the other two major foreign internet search companies in China, also did not comment on whether they intended to follow Google’s lead.