China has pledged to punish hackers who attacked Google if there is evidence to prove it, but said it has yet to receive any complaint from the world’s top search engine.
Google sent shockwaves across business and political circles in January when it declared it would stop censoring Chinese search results, and threatened to pull out of China — the world’s largest online community with 384 million users at the end of last year — over hacking and censorship concerns.
Google had never filed a report to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology over the cyber attacks or sought negotiations, Vice Minister Miao Wei (苗圩) was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency late on Saturday.
“If Google has had evidence that the attacks came from China, the Chinese government will welcome them to provide the information and will severely punish the offenders according to the law,” Miao said.
“We never support hacking attacks because China also falls victim to hacking attacks,” he said.
Google also never informed the ministry that it was planning to withdraw from China, Miao said, speaking on the sidelines of the the National People’s Congress meeting.
“If Google decides to continue its business in China and abides by China’s laws, it’s welcome to stay,” he said, vowing to continue providing a sound investment environment for foreign investors and protecting their legitimate rights.
“If the company chooses to withdraw from the Chinese market, it must go through certain procedures according to the law and regulations and deal with customers’ problems that may arise,” he said.
A Google spokesman was not immediately available for comment. The company has said previously that it planned to talk with Chinese officials.
On Friday, Chinese Minister of Industry and Information Technology Li Yizhong (李毅中) said China was in consultations with Google to resolve the issue. Li did not elaborate.
The dispute about Internet censorship has added to tensions over issues ranging from trade and the Chinese currency, US arms sales to Taiwan and a recent meeting between US President Barack Obama and exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
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