ANITA CHANG
Associated Press Writer
BEIJING – China’s dispute with Internet giant Google, which is threatening to pull out of the country over concerns about censorship and security, should not be linked to bilateral ties with the United States, a top Chinese official said Thursday.
The comments from Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei come hours before U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is to deliver a speech in Washington on the Obama administration’s strategy for protecting freedom on the Internet.
Google said on Jan. 12 that it will remain in China only if the government relents on rules requiring the censorship of content the ruling communist party considers subversive. The ultimatum came after Google said it uncovered a computer attack that tried to plunder its software coding and the e-mail accounts of human rights activists protesting Chinese policies.