Google seriously considering a pullout in China

by Steve Ragan - Mar 15 2010, 09:00

Sources close to the issue say that Google is 99.9-percent certain to close Chinese operations, even as talks on censorship move forward, the Financial Times reported on Friday.

The Financial Times report says that, “according to a person familiar with the company’s thinking,” Google has made detailed plans to deal with the pullout from China, even while the two sides continue to debate censorship and privacy. [FT Report here]

The news of Google’s plan to leave China comes after Li Yizhong, minister for industry and information technology, issued a warning that Google would “bare the consequences” should they violate Chinese laws and halt mandated search filtering.

“If [Google] takes steps that violate Chinese laws, that would be unfriendly, that would be irresponsible, and they would have to bear the consequences,” Yizhong said in a statement.

According to their sources, the Financial Times said that part of the plan Google has drafted will involve a slow but deliberate pullout that will take some time. Most of the delay will be spent on efforts to ensure the transition is orderly, and that employees are protected from retaliation by the authorities.

Google has maintained that they would are hopeful to remain in China, but the censorship issue and the likely backlash from authorities makes the idea almost impossible.

Since Google announced the attacks on its network from alleged Chinese sources two months ago, the war of words has been in full force with China and – oddly – the U.S. State Department being the most vocal.

Google has been mostly mum on the issue publically. Despite the report, they will not make comments regarding ongoing talks, and they will neither confirm nor deny rumors.

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