Fears Over China Rival to Google

Ambassadors across Europe will attend a cocktail dinner in Paris this week heralding the launch of the continent's first dedicated web search engine, aiming to take on giants such as Google and Yahoo! But it is Accoona.eu's roots in China which are likely to attract the scrutiny of human rights campaigners.

Accoona was co-founded by the Chinese government and is part owned by the China Daily Information Company, a Chinese government agency.

Government restrictions on web searches and freedom of speech, in China and elsewhere, have been put in the spotlight by irrepressible.info, a campaign launched last month by The Observer and Amnesty International which has so far attracted more than 23,000 supporters around the world. Last week the Liberal Democrats became the first political party to endorse it.

Like other search engines, Accoona's Chinese site is subject to the censorship of politically sensitive material. As it prepares to launch its European service, Derek Wyatt MP, chairman of the all-party internet committee, condemned its record of compliance. 'As far as we can make it, the net should be free and open. That applies to Accoona as well as everyone else. Anything that operates in Europe should know the principle of our identity is liberal and that nothing should be hidden. I hope advertisers will shun them.'

Eckhard Pfeiffer, president of Accoona, which also operates in the US and is based in New Jersey, said: 'We are taking a neutral position as much as we can and, right or wrong, we cannot violate local laws.'