Google’s future in China still unclear

China says it has yet to receive any formal complaint from Google about hacking attacks on the company’s offices in the country. Chinese officials say they will “severely punish” any offenders if sufficient evidence emerges.

The comments, from vice minister Miao Wei, have caused confusion coming just days after China’s industry and information technology minister Li Yizhong said his ministry was in talks with Google over the dispute. His response may be more important as it appears it is he who would have the authority to bar Google from operating in China if the government so desired.

Meanwhile there are reports the U.S. government is considering taking the issue to the World Trade Organization. It’s questionable whether mandatory censorship of search results in and of itself breaches WTO rules, but it’s possible it could be seen as causing an unfair barrier to trade for firms such as Google which rely on offering largely unfiltered search results.

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