China, US governments respond to Google quit threat

China responded to Google’s threat to leave the country over censorship and hacking concerns by describing its internet policy as “open” and stressing that foreign web companies were welcome to do business “in accordance with the law,” the Wall Street Journal reported. However, the US government followed up with a strong endorsement of Google’s plan to stop censoring its search engine in China and said it was looking into the recent cases of cyber intrusion believed to have emanated from the country. Asked whether the fallout from the situation could harm US-China relations, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the president’s strong beliefs about universal rights for men and women “aren’t carved out for certain countries.” Microsoft confirmed on Thursday that hackers exploited a security vulnerability in its Internet Explorer browser in an attack on Google and other companies. It said the attacks had been targeted and limited, stressing there was no widespread customer impact. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said the company is not considering pulling out of China.