Chinese Government Backs Down on Google

The Beijing government has suddenly ended its two-week block on Chinese subjects using US internet search engine Google.

Users in Shanghai and Beijing reported yesterday that they could once again view Google, which until the ban was widely used by China's 30 million-plus web surfers because it has a powerful feature for finding Chinese language material online.

However, another US search engine, AltaVista, remained blocked yesterday although users were no longer being rerouted to other Chinese government-approved search engines.

And even on Google, users reported that links to sensitive search topics such as Tibet, president Jiang Zemin, his likely successor, Hu Jintao, and the outlawed Falun Gong spiritual movement were still being blocked.

Since the beginning of this month, those trying to reach Google have found themselves being rerouted to heavily censored, less effective search engines run by private Chinese internet companies.

"I'm thrilled that Google is back," said one user in a chat room on the website of the People's Daily, the official Communist party newspaper. "Google, I love you!" said another posting.

Chat room users had bitterly criticised the ban. Analysts said the public outcry against the move and pressure from businesses that rely on web tools such as Google for research may have persuaded the Beijing government to reverse the restrictions so quickly.

"The internet has seemed to prevail," said Duncan Clark, the managing director of BDA China, a Beijing-based internet consulting firm.

The Chinese government made no announcement of the new internet censorship measures and refused to confirm their existence, or the fact measures against Google had been lifted.

But analysts and users linked the interference to a Communist party congress in November. Dissent is usually more tightly muzzled before political events of this size.

This congress is particularly sensitive because a new generation of leaders is expected to begin taking over.

Authorities apparently targeted Google and AltaVista because they do not filter out material deemed subversive from their search results, as Chinese sites are required to do by the government.

Analysts said the brief period of rerouting and the continuing selective censorship of material deemed unsuitable on websites such as Google had demonstrated the Chinese government's growing technological capabilities.