Editorial
Google's withdrawal from China a warning against cyber attacks
U.S. Internet giant Google withdrew its search services from mainland China after a clash with the Chinese government over censorship and cyber attacks on its e-mail system went unresolved.
The "withdrawal," however, merely meant that when users try to access Google's Chinese site, they would automatically be rerouted to the company's site in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, Google says that it will keep its local advertisement sales and development divisions on the mainland.
The company, of course, has taken these steps with the understanding that the Chinese government will take measures to prevent mainland users from connecting to the Hong Kong site.
Google has used the Internet to report on the situation over connecting to Google Hong Kong from mainland China. Already, mainland users are being blocked from accessing video-sharing sites and blogs, though this could merely be the result of too much concentrated traffic.
What Google is most likely trying to do is apply pressure on Chinese authorities by exposing to the rest of the world the state of Internet access in China and the restrictions the government is placing on the Chinese public's right to knowledge.
In addition to being an explicit rejection of the Chinese government's demand that Google comply with government censors, Google's retreat from China is also meant as a protest against the cyber attacks that have been aimed at the company.
Google claims that attacks originating in China -- that were seeking information concerning Chinese human rights activists -- were launched against Google's e-mail system, Gmail. Google has revealed that the attacks made use of advanced technology, suggesting that the attacks were an organized effort.
It is believed that Google has conducted analyses of the attacks and identified where they originated. Revealing the results of its probe, however, would be akin to laying all its cards on the table.
Network attacks and defense are also important in terms of security. For example, the loss of control over a power plant due to cyber terrorist activities will probably reduce society to a state of chaos.
Both the U.S. and China are most likely engaged in research on cyber terrorism, and media reports have exposed ties between Google and the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA).
Google has accumulated massive amounts of information from around the world. And China probably wants access to the classified information of that system. As such, Cyber attacks on Google in China and Google's withdrawal of services from mainland China falls under the realm of this information war.
We must keep in mind that network attacks and defense measures have these implications. Even so, it is bizarre that China -- which has grown into a major power through free trade with the rest of the world -- so obstinately insists that a foreign corporation cooperate with its censorship policy. Freedom of expression and privacy of communication are basic rules of modern society, and China must respect them.
(Mainichi Japan) March 26, 2010