Google to announce China exit tonight after negotiations with Government fail

Internet giant Google is expected to announce it will cease operating in China as soon as April 10, following failed negotiations with the Government regarding the possibility of providing uncensored search results.

It comes after months of controversy between the two parties, after hackers attacked Gmail accounts and the websites of several software companies, including Adobe.

As reported by the China Business News, the company is set to announce today its intentions to leave the country and cease all business operations.

“I have received information saying that Google will leave China on April 10, but this information has not at present been confirmed by Google,” said an unnamed source. However, the report also states an unnamed Google employee, along with a corporate representative, have confirmed the rumours.

It is understood Google’s partners have been told they will not be able to provide Google’s services on their sites in the future, while employees may have been given advanced notice in order to find new employment.

After the attacks in January, Google said it would no longer censor search content and would allow users to access the company’s entire search index – a move contrary to China’s heavy filtering policy.

It was hoped negotiations with the Government would allow Google to continue operating in China without censoring content, but these negotiations appear to have failed.

Google foreshadowed its intention to leave after the attacks occurred, saying that if a compromise could not be reached then it would consider abandoning its Chinese operations.

But the Chinese state-owned media agency Xinhua has attacked the company for having “intricate ties” with the United States Government, saying this could influence its decision to leave. According to the report, Google provides the Government with a record of search results.

“Google’s high-level officials have intricate ties with the US Government. It is also an open secret that some security experts in the Pentagon are from Google”, the report stated. “One company’s ambition to change China’s internet rules will only prove to be ridiculous.”

Analysts have suggested that while Google.cn may become obsolete, the company’s Android mobile operating system will allow it to still hold a presence in the Chinese market.