Google to stop rerouting Chinese search queries to HK site

Google has decided to stop automatically redirecting search queries from China to an unfiltered site in Hong Kong, following a warning from Beijing that the Internet major's licence would be revoked if it continued to do so.

Refusing to toe the communist country's line on result censorship, Google had closed down its search engine in China in March. Since then, the American entity had been rerouting queries to its Hong Kong site, 'Google.Com.Hk'.

The rerouting of queries (redirect), which offers unfiltered search in simplified Chinese, had been working well for users as well as the company, Google's Chief Legal Officer David Drummond said in a blog on Monday.

"(But) It's clear from conversations we have had with Chinese government officials that they find the redirect unacceptable, and if we continue redirecting users, our Internet Content Provider (ICP) licence will not be renewed," Drummond, also the firm's Senior Vice President (Corporate Development), said.
    
Without the licence, due for renewal on June 30, the firm would not be able to operate commercial websites such as 'Google.Cn—so' in the country, and "Google would effectively go dark in China," the blog said.
    
Though Google has shut down its Chinese search engine, it continues to offer varied services, such as music downloads, in the country.
    
As an alternative to automatically redirecting queries, Google has started taking some users to a landing page on 'Google.Cn' that links to Google.Com.Hk. On the landing page, users can do web search or continue to use 'Google.Cn' services such as music and text translation, which are provided locally without filtering.
    
In due course, all Chinese users would be redirected to the landing page, Drummond added.
    
"This new approach is consistent with our commitment to not self-censor and, we believe, with local law. We are therefore hopeful that our licence will be renewed on this basis so we can continue to offer our Chinese users services via Google.Cn," the blog said.
    
Google had many differences with Chinese authorities, and the situation turned worse in January when the Internet major threatened to pull out of China following an incident of sophisticated hacking.
    
In March, Google had announced that it would not censor search results in China, despite repeated demands in this regard.