Eluding copyright debacle

Whether it exits China or not, Google should honor its commitment to Chinese writers over its copyright infringements of online books. The appeal by the Chinese Writers Association (CWA) on Sunday is a timely reminder to the search engine leader that the issue remains unresolved.

The company's ongoing disputes with the Chinese government should not be an excuse for Google to dodge its due responsibilities in copyright violations with about 8,000 books of 2,600 Chinese writers.

In a formal apology to the CWA in January, the company, based in the United States, admitted that it had scanned books under Chinese copyright for its online library - the act triggered an outcry from Chinese writers. It also promised to produce a framework of an agreement through negotiations with the Chinese writers to resolve the issue by the end of this month.