From Chinese Press

Google, what do you want?

By Zhang Yixuan (peopledaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-06-10 16:06

Google claimed on its official blog on June 1 that the personal Gmail accounts of hundreds of users, including senior U.S. government officials, journalists and Chinese human rights activists, suffered phishing attacks originating from Jinan, China.

In fact, this is not the first time that Google has slandered China.

Related readings:  China denies Google email hacking charge  Google's accusations hurt trust on Internet  W.House probing reports of Google email hacking

Google alleged in January 2010 that it suffered cyber attacks from inside China but has not presented any evidence so far. This time, in order to cater to the West's stereotyped image of China, Google listed "Chinese human rights activists" as victims, insinuating that the Chinese government was behind the cyber attacks although once again it did not provide any solid proof to support its statement. The conclusion is therefore reached that Google's accusation is groundless and bears ulterior motives.

China and the United States have long been working together in combating cyber crimes, and have established an international cooperative mechanism in law enforcement. Google could directly bring the case to court if it had enough evidence. Why does it keeps tarnishing the image of China and hyping the so-called China threat theory.

Google is assisting the Federal Bureau of Investigation in investigating the alleged cyber attacks from China.

It is worth noting that according to the International Strategy for Cyberspace recently released by the U.S. Department of Defense, the United States classified that network intrusions may provoke a military response. Many international experts said that Google's allegations carry strong political overtones. It is possible that Google is trying to spark off disputes between China and the United States over cyber security, making China an experimental subject of the U.S. global cyberspace strategy.

Today's Google is disappointing. The icon of innovation in the Internet sector has turned into a political tool of defaming other countries. Once a leading enterprise advocating openness, sharing and equality, Google now has turned its back to the spirit of the Internet.

In fact, Google should not involve itself in international political conflicts and act as a tool for political games because it will likely become a political victim and also suffer in the marketplace in case of changes in the international political situation.

Given the existence of numerous corporate spies and hackers on the disordered Internet, it is inevitable for Google to suffer from cyber attacks. In fact, China is one of the countries facing the most frequent cyber attacks. Data from the National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team/Coordination Center of China shows that a Trojan horse virus was implanted in host computers with a total of 4.5 million IP addresses in China in 2010, an increase of 16 times from a year earlier. Overseas Trojan horse virus controlled servers in China with IP addresses totaling 220,000 in 2010, an increase of 34 percent from 2009. Of them, 15 percent were from the largest source country of the United States, an increase of 57 percent from a year earlier.

As an internationally prestigious Internet enterprise, Google should follow the laws concerning the development of the Internet sector, rebuild the spirit of the Internet, become a long-standing, respectable enterprise and continue its path of innovation rather than be entangled by thorns on the wayside or even be tempted by the beautiful song of the Sirens.