China: Google Should Obey Rules When Leaving

With the news that Google is nearly 100 percent sure about its decision to leave the Chinese search market, China has said the search company will still have to abide by Chinese law, even if it does leave.

Last week, referring to Google's plans to uncensor search results, China's Minister of Industry and Information Technology, Li Yizhong, told reporters, "If you don't respect Chinese laws, you are unfriendly and irresponsible, and the consequences will be on you." Then, on Sunday, a report citing people familiar with the situation said Google's plans to leave China were 99.9 percent certain.

Today, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce said Google should follow the rules, even if it does decide to pull out of China. "On entering the Chinese market in 2007, it clearly stated that it would respect Chinese law," Reuters quotes spokesman, Yao Jian, as saying. "We hope that whether Google Inc continues operating in China or makes other choices, it will respect Chinese legal regulations," Yao continued. "Even if it pulls out, it should handle things according to the rules and appropriately handle remaining issues," he said.

Yao went on to say that the rules he was referring to included reporting Commerce Ministry about plans to pull out. Google said yesterday it has not concluded its talks with the Chinese authorities but said it was adamant about not censoring its results.

Read Reuter's full report here.