US-China war of words escalates

Jake Widman
Saturday, 23 January 2010 01:04

Your IT - Home IT

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called on China to investigate the recent cyberattacks on Google and other companies, which have been traced to China. In response, China has charged the U.S. with "information imperialism," while President Obama has said he still wants answers.

Last week, we learned that Google and other companies had been targeted in a cyberattack originating from China. In response, Google has threatened to pull its business operations out of that country and stop filtering its search results to meet Chinese authorities' censorship standards.

A Chinese spokesperson replied that Google and all foreign companies must "adhere to China’s laws and regulations, respect the interests of the general public and cultural traditions, and shoulder corresponding responsibilities."

Yesterday, Hillary Clinton elevated the dispute into the realm of international politics.

In a speech at Washington, D.C.'s Newseum, Clinton cited U.S. president Franklin Roosevelt's 1941 "Four Freedoms" speech. In that address, Roosevelt asserted that all people should enjoy freedom of expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.

To those, Clinton added the freedom to connect -- "the idea that governments should not prevent people from connecting to the Internet, to websites, or to each other."

Clinton went on to describe how the U.S. would put this principle into practice.

For more on Clinton's statement and China's reaction, see Page 2.