The US is considering legally challenging China over internet restrictions imposed on Google and other American companies, Reuters reported. But US Trade Representative Ron Kirk said that while a case challenging China over censorship was a viable option, a dialogue with Beijing was more likely to obtain positive results. US trade officials are "trying to make our own determination whether we believe in fact this is not World Trade Organization compliant and if the best resolution is to go forward and file an appeal," Kirk said. In order to legally challenge China over the Google affair, the US would have to take the case to the WTO and prove that cemsorship constituted harmful business practices or an anti-competitive business environment. But he admitted that trying to resolve the issue diplomatically was "much more preferable than the uncertain path of what can be a two-, three-, four-year legal battle in the WTO."
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