BEIJING (AFP) – Google said it was "business as usual" in China, after repo
rts that the US Internet giant was stopping some local staff from working fo
llowing its threat to pull out of the Asian country.
The statement came nearly a week after Google's shock announcement that it w
as considering abandoning its Chinese search engine, and could shut its Chin
a offices, over theft of its intellectual property by hackers.
"We gave our employees a holiday the day of the announcement so that we coul
d run tests and scans internally to ensure that the network is safe and secu
re," Google said in an emailed reply to AFP inquiries.
"Google China employees are now back at work and it's business as usual."
Last week, the Beijing News reported that Google China engineers no longer h
ad access to the company's global database and could no longer work, citing
unnamed sources within the company.
Google has said it is no longer willing to bow to the communist country's ar
my of Internet censors by filtering search results available on google.cn, b
ut is still seeking talks with the Chinese government on a solution.
The United States has asked for an explanation from Beijing, and the State D
epartment said Friday that a formal request would be made "in the coming day
s".
"It will express our concern for this incident and request information from
China as to an explanation of how it happened and what they plan to do about
it," State Department spokesman PJ Crowley told reporters.
China has sought to tamp down the controversy, saying the row will not affec
t Sino-US ties already frayed over a number of issues, from climate change t
o the value of the Chinese yuan and several trade disputes.
But Beijing also insisted that Google must obey its laws.
A commerce ministry spokesman said Friday that foreign firms should "respect
the laws, public interest, culture and traditions in host countries, and ta
ke on social responsibilities accordingly".
