Google Inc.'s partial withdrawal from the China market brought swift condemnation from the government Tuesday while leaving Chinese Web surfers to wonder whether they would be able to access a new offshore search engine site or be blocked by censors. Google's decision to move most of its China-based search functions to Hong Kong opened a new phase in a two-month-long fracas pitting the world's most powerful Internet company against a government that tightly restricts the Web in the planet's most populous market. A few Chinese passers-by laid flowers or chocolates on the large metal “Google” sign outside the company's office building in northern Beijing. Many Chinese felt caught in the middle, admiring Google for taking a stand against censorship but wondering whether the government might further punish the company. “I don't know what the Chinese government will do to Google next,” said Zhou Shuguang, a well-known blogger who uses the online name “Zuola.” “But I welcome the move and support Google because an uncensored search engine is something that I need.” After threatening to quit China over cyberattacks and legally required self-censorship, Google announced early Tuesday Beijing time that its Chinese search engine, google.cn, would automatically redirect queries to its service in Hong Kong, where Google is not legally required to censor searches.
