• Reuters, Tuesday, February 21, 2006 10:15 AM

Google can't win with this China situation. The search giant is now coming under fire from the Chinese media for disclosing to consumers that it would censor its results as per a government mandate. Nationalist paper The Beijing News asked "Does a business operating in China need to constantly tell customers that it's abiding by the laws of the land?" It later accused Google of inciting debate about censorship, likening the company to an uninvited dinner guest saying that "the dishes don't suit his taste, but he's willing to eat them as a show of respect to the host." Another paper, the China Business Times, went on to say Google had failed to acquire the proper license needed to operate Internet content services in China. The search company shares a license with a local Web company with which it has a partnership. Google denied the paper's claims of illegality. The Chinese ministry said it was "aware of the problem" and would be issuing a statement on the issue later this week.

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