Google Inc. Chief Executive Eric Schmidt defended his company's recent threat to pull out of China in some of his most extensive comments on the controversial move.
'We like what China is doing in terms of growth . . . we just don't like censorship,' Mr. Schmidt said, speaking at the World Economic Forum's annual summit here. 'We hope that will change and we can apply some pressure to make things better for the Chinese people.'
Mr. Schmidt's comments brought into the open a debate that bubbled up in private conversations at Davos all week -- concerns about growing tensions in the relationship between the U.S. and China.
Since Google's move earlier this month, the governments of both countries have been deadlocked in a war of words. The U.S. has threatened to file a formal complaint against China to press it to investigate Google's allegations that it had suffered a sweeping cyberattack that originated in China. But the U.S. hasn't yet followed through on the threat. China has hit back though its state media, which have dismissed the allegations as part of an 'ideology war.'
Some China observers worry that relations have sunk to their worst level in years, complicated by the Google issue, continued disagreements over China's role in the Copenhagen climate talks, and tensions over trade and economic issues like China's currency.
Many in the business community are also concerned about increasing cyber security threats. The attacks on the Google network also raise a bigger question: the security of the 'cloud' -- where governments, companies and individuals store an increasing amount of data on Google's and others' remote databases.
Those concerns have been heightened by Google's move to go public with its objections after it investigated the breach of its network. The attack targeted as many as 34 different companies or other entities, according to two people familiar with the investigation, which has been under way for weeks. Most of the other companies haven't come forward.
Li Keqiang, the vice premier of China, didn't address the Google case during a speech at Davos this week. Business executives said that during a private session, Mr. Li emphasized the importance of following China's rules.
The Chinese government has repeatedly defended its handling of the Internet, and has rejected accusations that China is responsible for cyberattacks against foreign entities.
One senior executive at a U.S. technology company said that as more valuable data migrate online, the cloud will become like 'Fort Knox' and will need security to match. This was, he said, a public policy issue for governments.
U.S. Rep Barney Frank (D., Mass.) agreed during a panel this week that the issue would demand increasing resources. 'I know we need to deal with cyber security,' said Mr. Frank.
Mr. Schmidt maintained Friday that Google wants to continue operating in China. But he said the company didn't want to do so if it had to operate under China's censorship laws. To operate its Web site, Google.cn in China, Google had to agree to censor its results.
'We would very much like to stay in China. We would very much like the censorship we oppose to improve in China,' Mr. Schmidt replied.
Yet one Chinese participant said that Google's move had likely ended its business prospects in the country, where the company held a 30% market share. 'Their growth will probably be much more outside of China,' he said.
Rebecca Blumenstein / Stephen Fidler
2010年02月01日10:20 谷歌CEO再言反對中國網絡審查制度
Associated Press
谷歌公司首席執行長施密特上週五在達沃斯論壇上發表講話
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歌公司(Google Inc.)首席執行長施密特(Eric Schmidt)以密集措辭為該公司近期威脅退出中國的爭議性舉動進行了辯護。施密特在瑞士達沃斯“世界經濟論壇”(World Economic Forum)年度峰會上說﹐我們喜歡中國在增長方面的作為﹐我們只是不喜歡審查﹔我們希望這方面能夠改變﹐希望我們能夠施加一定的壓力﹐讓中國人民的處境得到改善。
施密特的言論﹐讓在達沃斯論壇一個星期內發生的一場辯論由私下交流的形式擺上了桌面﹐即美中關係越來越緊張﹐讓人擔憂。
1月份谷歌威脅退出以來﹐兩國政府之間一直僅限於口頭上的爭吵。美國曾威脅對中國提起正式投訴﹐促其調查谷歌有關遭到源自中國的大規模網絡攻擊事件的說法﹐但這一威脅還沒有兌現。中國通過國有媒體予以反擊﹐這些媒體稱﹐谷歌的說法不過是一場“意識形態戰”的一部分。
一些中國觀察家擔心﹐谷歌事件、中國在哥本哈根氣候談判中的角色問題引起的持續爭執﹐以及人民幣匯率等貿易與經濟問題引發的矛盾﹐加劇了兩國關係的緊張﹐使之跌入多年來的底谷。
很多商界人士還對越來越嚴重的網絡安全威脅感到擔心。谷歌網絡受到的攻擊還帶來了一個更大的疑問﹐那就是“雲計算”的安全問題。在雲計算之下﹐政府、企業和個人都在谷歌和其他公司的遠程數據庫中存儲數量日益增長的數據。
谷歌調查到網絡被攻破後公開表達抗議﹐讓上述擔憂進一步加劇。據兩位知悉調查內情的人士透露﹐最多有34家公司或其他實體成了此次攻擊的目標。調查已進行數週時間。多數其他公司還沒有公開表態。
中國國務院副總理李克強上週在達沃斯發表演講時沒有提及谷歌事件。有商界高管稱﹐李克強在一次私下討論中強調了遵守中國法律的重要性。
中國政府曾反復為其處理互聯網的做法進行辯護﹐並否認中國在針對外國實體的網絡攻擊中負有責任。
美國某科技公司的一位高級管理人員表示﹐隨著越來越多的寶貴數據遷移到網絡上﹐“雲”將像美國肯塔基州的Fort Knox金庫﹐需要採取與之匹配的安全措施。他說﹐這是擺在各國政府面前的一個公共政策議題。
代表馬薩諸塞州的民主黨眾議員弗蘭克(Barney Frank)在上週的一個小組討論會上也認為﹐解決上述問題將需要利用越來越多的資源。弗蘭克說﹐我知道我們需要應對網絡安全問題。
上週五施密特重申﹐谷歌希望在中國維持運營。但他表示﹐如果必須根據中國的審查法規運營﹐那麼谷歌就不希望繼續在中國做下去。谷歌為了在中國運營Google.cn站點﹐不得不同意審查其搜索結果。
施密特回答問題時說：我們非常希望留在中國﹐我們非常希望我們所反對的中國審查問題得到改善。
但一位中方與會人士表示﹐谷歌的舉動很有可能已經終結它在中國的商業前途。谷歌在中國擁有30%的市場份額。這位與會人士說﹐谷歌的增長需要在中國以外實現的部分可能將會提高很多。
Rebecca Blumenstein / Stephen Fidler
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