Clinton Attacks China in Row Over Google

After hackers’ attacks, Clinton attacked China in the row over Google. The U.S. secretary of state has accused China of blocking free access to the internet. She threatened that China would suffer consequences.

Beijing reacted indignantly. In the dispute over internet censorship between China and the USA, positions were hardened. A speaker representing the Chinese government attacked U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Beijing. “The USA should stop using the so-called freedom of the internet to bring unjustified accusations against China,” said a speaker of the Chinese foreign affairs office.

Clinton’s charges damaged Chinese-American relations. On Thursday, Clinton accused China of blocking free access to the internet and threatened repercussions if the communist state took part in the cyber attacks. Thus, she explicitly reacted to the hackers’ attacks on Google coming from China. As a result, the American public corporation threatened to withdraw from the People’s Republic. “Countries that deny free access to information or violate the civil rights of internet users risk being excluded from the progress of the next century,” said Clinton.

The U.S. secretary of state asked the Chinese government for a public explanation about the hackers’ attacks on Google and other American enterprises. In addition, she urged internet enterprises in the USA to defy censorship regulations of authoritative governments abroad. China is one of only a few countries that restrict freedom on the internet. To this group also belong Tunisia, Uzbekistan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, said the secretary of state.

According to Google’s data, the attacks were carried out from e-mail accounts in China. After the attacks, the internet search engine giant called its business in China into question and decided that it would no longer bend to the censorship policies imposed by Beijing. Withdrawal from the Chinese market is not ruled out. In fact, many sites criticizing the regime in China are not accessible.

Ma Zhaoxu explained that China has its own background and traditions. His country manages the internet in accordance with its laws and policies, as is done worldwide. China hopes both sides will take care of their own interests, with differences in terms of “a healthy and steady development to handle the bilateral relations appropriately.”

The English-speaking Chinese newspaper Global Times spoke of “information imperialism.” The demand of the USA for the free flow of information on the internet is “a concealed attempt to impose their values on other countries in the name of democracy.”