A group of 27 Chinese advertising agencies have sent Google a letter calling for talks over compensation for possible business losses if the Internet giant pulls out of the country.
The letter, confirmed yesterday by Google and one of the agencies, complained that the US firm kept them in the dark about whether it plans to make good on a threat to leave China over censorship and cyber attacks.
The 27 advertising resellers said Google has had no consultations with them since it said in January it was considering pulling the plug on google.cn, its Chinese search engine.
A copy of the letter was posted on the Web site of state-run China Central Television (CCTV).
“The only thing we can do is to wait — in unbearable agony and anxiety,” the agencies said in the letter. “If Google tells us now that we, our clients, employees and investors have to bear the commercial risks of their business move ... we absolutely cannot accept it.”
An official with one of the agencies confirmed on condition of anonymity that the firm had signed the letter.
It was sent this week to John Liu (劉允), a Google vice president who oversees sales and business development for China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Google China spokeswoman Marsha Wang confirmed that the company had received the letter.
“We are reviewing it,” she said, declining to provide further details.
The firms called on Google to open “immediate negotiations” with them to discuss possible compensation.
“Many of us would face bankruptcy and close down because we have invested enormous funds and efforts to meet Google’s requirements,” they said.
They also warned the US company would be responsible for causing job losses of employees whose work was focused on Google.
“Google should bear full responsibility if tens of thousands of employees cause any problems for China’s economic and political stability,” they said.
The agencies said they may seek compensation for investments they made to ramp up their ability to handle Google’s business, for which they had not enjoyed commensurate returns, the letter said.
The agencies’ clients could in turn seek to reclaim payments made to Google for future advertising.
Google has threatened to leave China over what it said were cyber attacks aimed at its source code and the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists.
The Financial Times reported at the weekend that Google was “99.9 percent” certain to abandon google.cn, citing an unnamed source.
Chinese media said yesterday that Google sent a notice to clients saying google.cn could close at the end of this month.
FIREPOWER: On top of the torpedoes, the military would procure Kestrel II anti-tank weapons systems to replace aging license-produced M72 LAW launchers Taiwan is to receive US-made Mark 48 torpedoes and training simulators over the next three years, following delays that hampered the navy’s operational readiness, the Ministry of National Defense’s latest budget proposal showed. The navy next year would acquire four training simulator systems for the torpedoes and take receipt of 14 torpedoes in 2027 and 10 torpedoes in 2028, the ministry said in its budget for the next fiscal year. The torpedoes would almost certainly be utilized in the navy’s two upgraded Chien Lung-class submarines and the indigenously developed Hai Kun, should the attack sub successfully reach operational status. US President Donald Trump
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to start construction of its 1.4-nanometer chip manufacturing facilities at the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP, 中部科學園區) as early as October, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported yesterday, citing the park administration. TSMC acquired land for the second phase of the park’s expansion in Taichung in June. Large cement, construction and facility engineering companies in central Taiwan have reportedly been receiving bids for TSMC-related projects, the report said. Supply-chain firms estimated that the business opportunities for engineering, equipment and materials supply, and back-end packaging and testing could reach as high as
ALL QUIET: The Philippine foreign secretary told senators she would not respond to questions about whether Lin Chia-lung was in the country The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday confirmed that a business delegation is visiting the Philippines, but declined to say whether Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) is part of the group, as Philippine lawmakers raised questions over Lin’s reported visit. The group is being led by Deputy Minister of Agriculture Huang Chao-chin (黃昭欽), Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association (CIECA) chairman Joseph Lyu (呂桔誠) and US-Taiwan Business Council (USTBC) vice president Lotta Danielsson, the ministry said in a statement. However, sources speaking on condition of anonymity said that Lin is leading the delegation of 70 people. Filinvest New Clark City Innovation Park
TPP RALLY: The clashes occurred near the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Saturday at a rally to mark the anniversary of a raid on former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je People who clashed with police at a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) rally in Taipei on Saturday would be referred to prosecutors for investigation, said the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the National Police Agency. Taipei police had collected evidence of obstruction of public officials and coercion by “disorderly” demonstrators, as well as contraventions of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It added that amid the “severe pushing and jostling” by some demonstrators, eight police officers were injured, including one who was sent to hospital after losing consciousness, allegedly due to heat stroke. The Taipei
RSS