Money Matters, Simplified.
China lashes back at Clinton for 'Internet policy' speech
by Ishita Sood - January 22, 2010 - comments
China, which is one of the most attacked countries by hackers, said that it wanted to strengthen the communication and cooperation with U.S., and that there is a need to respect each other's core interests to maintain a healthy relationship.
New York, January 22 -- China warned U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to stop condemning the Chinese 'Internet policy,' or results of the same could be "harmful" for both the countries.
Spokesman of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ma Zhaoxu, made the remarks on Friday, commenting on Clinton's Thursday speech.
The speech, which urged China to investigate cyber-attacks that led Google to pull out of the country, was “groundless,” in Zhaoxu's words.
“We urge the United States to respect the facts and cease using so-called Internet freedom to make groundless accusations against China,” read a statement on the Chinese foreign ministry site.
Speech was a “far outcry from truth”
Zhaoxu further said that China always followed the right international practices, and the speech was a “far cry from the truth.”
China, which is one of the most attacked countries by hackers, also said it wanted to strengthen the communication and cooperation with U.S., and that there is a need to respect each other's core interests to maintain a healthy relationship.
Zhaoxu said all issues must be resolved for “protecting the health and stable development of China-U.S. relations.”
However, people across China had a mixed response.
Chinese blogger Zhou Shuguang said, “The Clinton speech is for sure to have positive effect. It's welcomed by China's Internet users, especially the active ones on Twitter, regarding the censorship situation in China."
Novelist and blogger Yang Hengjun differed, and said that on Twitter the speech was positive, but the users must not expect too much from it. “The U.S. government has been talking about supporting world-wide Internet freedom for ages, but it hasn't done much yet,” he said.
Google wants to resume business in China
China's vice foreign minister, He Yafei, talked about China’s and Google’s latest dispute after the speech. He said both must handle all issues to resolve the current friction.
“This year, China and the United States - especially the US - must both carefully handle the issues of weapons sales to Taiwan, the Dalai Lama, and trade frictions,” said Yahei.
China, which has a population of 380 million web users, currently has 3.68 million websites and 180 million blogs.
In a related news, it has been reported on Friday that search engine Google said it would continue doing business in China, even after the cyber-attacks.