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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| China 'to renew Google licence' | China 'to renew Google licence' |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| The Chinese government has been in a long-running dispute with Google | The Chinese government has been in a long-running dispute with Google |
| Google boss Eric Schmidt has said he expects the internet giant to be granted a new licence to operate in China. | Google boss Eric Schmidt has said he expects the internet giant to be granted a new licence to operate in China. |
| There had been speculation China would revoke the licence after Google began redirecting Chinese users to its unfiltered search site in Hong Kong. | There had been speculation China would revoke the licence after Google began redirecting Chinese users to its unfiltered search site in Hong Kong. |
| This was in protest at China's stringent censorship laws. | This was in protest at China's stringent censorship laws. |
| But last month, Google said it would no longer automatically redirect users in a conciliatory move towards Beijing. | But last month, Google said it would no longer automatically redirect users in a conciliatory move towards Beijing. |
| Instead, Chinese users would be sent to a "landing page", which would send them to the Hong Kong site. | Instead, Chinese users would be sent to a "landing page", which would send them to the Hong Kong site. |
| "We would expect we would get the necessary licence," Mr Schmidt told a conference in Sun Valley, Idaho. | "We would expect we would get the necessary licence," Mr Schmidt told a conference in Sun Valley, Idaho. |
| "We now expect to get a renewal". | "We now expect to get a renewal". |
| 'Loss of face' | |
| Google has had a long history of run-ins with the Chinese authorities, but without a licence granted by Beijing, it cannot operate in China. | Google has had a long history of run-ins with the Chinese authorities, but without a licence granted by Beijing, it cannot operate in China. |
| "Our operations in China are completely at the discretion of the Chinese government," Mr Schmidt said. | "Our operations in China are completely at the discretion of the Chinese government," Mr Schmidt said. |
| In January, Google said it might pull out of China following what it called a "sophisticated" cyber attack originating from the country. | |
| The announcement was not well received in Beijing. | |
| "The government views the January announcement as a loss of face," said Edward Yu, at Beijing-based research firm Analysys International. | |
| "But because Google has now made this move [not to automatically redirect users to Hong Kong], there is a chance they will most probably meet in the middle and Google will get the licence." | |
| Much is at stake, for losing business in China, which already has more internet users than any other country despite relatively low penetration, could harm Google's future growth prospects. |