Cyberwar: China Declares War On Western Search Sites

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1. Thinker
   

   October 18th, 2007 at 6:30 am

   Well, look at it this way. chinese sites shine in china and only in china.

2. thefirstreader
   

   October 18th, 2007 at 6:31 am

   Yet they use technology that was invented here in the US? :\ Could someone please point out to them how they’re making an ass of themselvesthe?

3. Duncan Riley
   

   October 18th, 2007 at 6:34 am

   thefirstreader
   the ultimate of all ironies: the great firewall of China is powered by American tech.

4. Chris
   

   October 18th, 2007 at 6:35 am

   As the president of a company that’s about to release a search engine competitor, all I have to say at China is :

   Your schools and edu programs are so bad… Baidu is a joke. And on top of that you have to copy everything that the western world does. Nothing, but nothing from China is ever original, and you have no talent.

   http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09.....-toys.html

   You make bad toys, and you make western executives look stupid in front of investors. Screw china, screw them to bloody hell. It’s like those swisscom euronet services in European hotels which redirect your browser to the payment page.

   Why not have all western ISPs redirect all request to Chinese businesses such as Lenovo, ect… to HP, Google and other western services? Why not? Why not play on the same level as them(barring having death vans)

   usatoday.com/news/world/2006-06-14-death-van_x.htm

   What a great country.

5. Chris
   

   October 18th, 2007 at 6:37 am

   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_MacArthur

   Screw the govt that stopped this man.

6. yau
   

   October 18th, 2007 at 6:55 am

   whats douglas macarthur got to do with this?

7. Hero Doug
   

   October 18th, 2007 at 6:56 am

   I’d just like to say as a person who’s currently living in China and as someone who uses both Google and Yahoo multiple times throughout the day (morning, afternoon, and night) I’ve yet to be re-directed to Baidu.

8. US Web Hosting
   

   October 18th, 2007 at 7:00 am

   Amazing Live.com is also being re-directed to Baidu, I found Bill Gates saying.. China is the future for research..

9. Clement
   

   October 18th, 2007 at 7:05 am

   I think China is more of a problem to civilization than was Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.

10. Derek
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 7:17 am

    On the US being a bad WTO member. As a Canadian I would like to point out that the US has been illegally putting tarrifs on our soft wood lumber imports for years, bringing that industry in Canada to it’s knees. Thousands of people have lost jobs and many more lives have been impacted by this.

    This issue has been brought to the WTO 3 separate times and the WTO has ruled in Canada’s favour all three times. Yet the US is still illegally taxing the soft wood lumber being imported from Canada.

    If the US does go to the WTO over this issue, there is no guarantee that China would listen to the ruling even if they were ruled to be in the wrong.

11. Bob W
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 7:19 am

    Can’t confirm this news!!!
    At least, I can access google blog search in Shanghai right now.

12. John@ScribbleSheet
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 7:30 am

    Well this is worrying if this is true.

    To the commenters above who seem to revel in the fact that the technology was made in the USA then I worry about you. What does that matter? Honestly?

    The fact of the matter is, soon enough the Chinese market will be bigger than the UK and US combined. You cannot ignore that. Even if you leave aside the economics they may soon have superior technology.

    You have to look long term on this issue.

13. John
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 7:32 am

    Here’s a Digg style website for Chinese Internet and Hi-Tech News:
    http://www.chinamemes.com/

14. Chris
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 7:36 am

    “The fact of the matter is, soon enough the Chinese market will be bigger than the UK and US combined. You cannot ignore that. Even if you leave aside the economics they may soon have superior technology.”

    What good is playing in a market like that?

    It’s like playing at a casino where they use fake dice and have a computer controlled roullette table?

    It’s like playing in pre-war Cuba. What a GREAT economic investment idea Cuba was. Coke, pepsi, the auto industry. Oh yeah, they were all over there. Then they found out that CUBA IS COMMUNIST.

    MS, Google, Yahoo, ect.. are so STOOOPID, I will never understand them. I have a feeling they have management that were originally from these countries, which incidentally will never BUY anything because they steal all their software, that cried to the US management to open branches there. Nothing stable will ever come from China. It’s as good an idea as investing in North Korea.

    You have to be such a brainwashed idiot to set up a branch there. I had exchange teachers from China in highschool. I did a documentary on them for A/V class.

15. Chris
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 7:38 am

    s/roullette/roulette/

16. George
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 7:42 am

    Where did you manage to get BS news like this? Do you guys even do the most basic fact checking anymore? I am sitting here in Beijing and browsing (and searching) yahoo.com, google and live.com. Live.com is bit slow at the moment, but I am not blocked, let alone redirected to baidu. Can’t believe people actually believe outrageous stories like this.

    Some of you probably remember reading stories, including on this blog, about all rss feeds being blocked in China not too long ago. Those stories were refuted by even western bloggers living in China. And the bloggers are frustrated that nobody cared about the truth. What’s with you people? Does it really feel so good to hear how little freedom people get in other parts of the world? Sorry, but you will be sorely disappointed again this time.

17. Useful Concept
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 7:43 am

    For clarity, I have yet to read anything that suggests that China itself is behind this. Couldn’t it be that Baidu is paying the ISP’s?

18. Anders
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 7:46 am

    Chris:
    You are so ignorant. That Cuba comparison was so terrible.

    and…
    Why not play on the same level as them? Because we have greater moral than they have.

19. Chris
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 7:46 am

    George, link to your blog. How do we know you are not a govt official PR person? They do that you know? Pop up randomly to steer public opinion. They have ISPs over there show images of policemen when people search for democracy.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new.....net130.xml

    Say it isn’t so.

20. George
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 7:51 am

    Chris, I’d be so happy if my govt started doing official PR on tech blogs. Just get a proxy inside China and check it out yourself.

21. aw
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 7:51 am

    The reason here is really complicated.

    Anyway, I feel very sad when I see this post.

22. Chris
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 7:52 am

    “I’d be so happy if my govt started doing official PR on tech blogs.”

    Oh I bet you would. I bet you would just be bursting at the seams with joy!

23. David
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 8:04 am

    Chris,

    Instead of posting more here and allowing your borderline racist nature to surface, maybe you should pay attention to your own BeerCo website and make sure you spell things correctly on that website http://www.beercosoftware.com/rates.shtml.

    You pounced on this story, and I call it story, not news, without verifying the claim yourself. China’s education system is bad? Obviously not at all levels. Have you checked top US universities graduate programs? They are full of Chinese students. Baidu is a joke? If you had only got in on Baidu stock during its IPO you might be able to retire now. No talent from China? Have you looked at the staff make-up of the top tech companies in the Silicon Valley?

    Maybe I shouldn’t direct this at you. The nature this “story” is released and the reactions from some of the posters are both disappointing and annoying.

24. t/h
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 8:05 am

    I don’t know who is spreading these rumors I am living in Beijing for a while and I can asure you there is no redirect from google, yahoo or live…simply not true

25. Chris
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 8:13 am

    @David,

    The website’s spelling is correct and it’s valid html
    http://validator.w3.org/check?.....ates.shtml

    “China’s education system is bad? Obviously not at all levels. Have you checked top US universities graduate programs? They are full of Chinese students.”

    Why are they in Universities in the US and not in China. I think your statement validates my point. My calculus class in College was FULL of Chinese students, that could hardly speak english. Do they belong at schools here where their numbers are disproportionately high to numbers of local students? No.

    The other guy was like ” oh yeah buddy, just get a proxy inside the Chinese CISCO firewall, and you’ll be all set to read my blog ”

    Give me a break. Would China let all of our local students go there and go to their Universities in great numbers? They won’t even let me visit that dude’s blog.

    This is insanity. I won’t even reply to you anymore.

26. aw
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 8:19 am

    @ Chris

    Yeah, Chinese EDU is really a bullshit.

    But what about the invaders to China hundreds of years ago? The western countries just robbed China’s money.

27. George
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 8:23 am

    Chris, I told you to get a proxy in China to check if the story here is true or not.

    >> This is insanity. I won’t even reply to you anymore.

    Thank you, I think you have said enough

28. Chris
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 8:27 am

    “George, link to your blog.”
    “Just get a proxy inside China and check it out yourself.”

    We’ll call it lost in the translation.

    “But what about the invaders to China hundreds of years ago? The western countries just robbed China’s money.”

    They gave American indians coats full of small pox and told them it was a winter present. So what? That’s history. I have a list so long of complaints against China, it would not fit here with a 100 yard vertical scroll bar. I am leaving this as is. China is a communist country. That MEANS something. People these days with all this high tech stuff seem to forget the meaning of things.

29. Just M Today
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 8:27 am

    The Chinese government really sucks. Time to recognize Taiwan as independent country (which it is). This will make them really upset

30. Daniel
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 8:27 am

    “The fact of the matter is, soon enough the Chinese market will be bigger than the UK and US combined. You cannot ignore that. Even if you leave aside the economics they may soon have superior technology.”

    That may be true eventually but thats at least 50-100 years out.
    In the meantime make money investing in china

31. icebin
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 8:36 am

    ……..no word to say…….

    my dear youtube.google china should save him…………..

32. Jonathan
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 8:37 am

    off topic:
    England has the best educational institutions in the world!

33. Yihong Ding
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 8:38 am

    This news is even shocker than the last one. Hopefully to watch more media reports about this issue. If it is really a unilateral action, it is too bad.

    – Yihong

34. David
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 8:45 am

    Chris,

    Last time I checked, Service was not spelled “Serice,” as your COMMERCIAL site would indicate. I even pointed the exact page out to you and you still refused to find it. Yet you make fun of the English of your classmates. Is that what your great education taught you to do? Or are you still bitter that those non-English speakers kicked your ass in the class (and in the work force).

35. Bill
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 8:49 am

    I think we now see there response to giving the Dali Lama a medal. This would also be in line with their threat to not buy T Bills the last time we we did something they didn’t like. Expect to see more of this is the future. China knows one thing. The fastest way to US decision makers is through their wallets.

36. Robert Scoble
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 8:49 am

    If this is true USA should pull out of the Olympics next year.

37. Chris
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 8:52 am

    @David, one typo, which incidentally is now fixed, on a site with thousands of words of text, is hardly tragic, and it certainly does not invalidate what I wrote.
    China is not any better because there was a typo buried in the far reaches of our website. It doesn’t make it any better or change anything I’m afraid.

    That would be like China killing or jailing a protester for life then saying, well, we gave him a lollipop first, and he smiled briefly, so it was all ok. That detail nullifies everything. Am I right?

    I could say something, but I’ll refrain for the sake of peace on the internet.

38. Fabian Schonholz
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 8:53 am

    Duncan, I do not mean to be rude, but … REALLY?!!!

    So the Chinese finally decided to start walking the world and exert their “weight”. We have been waiting for this for the last 20 years and now it is happening. We did have plenty of notice.

39. david
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 8:55 am

    also sitting in beijing and use google, yahoo search daily and have NEVER been re-directed EVER. Who cares about live but it is not re-directed either. You tube gets blocked and / or slowed very often but never re-directed. This story is total lies.

    It is true however about the RSS being blocked. Has been for several weeks now.

40. exapted
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 8:57 am

    Remember that in China, people use Google.cn. I highly doubt requests for Google.cn are being redirected to Baidu.com. I’m sure some Chinese would prefer to see a Chinese company lead the search market in China, but this rumor just sounds like an attack on China’s reputation.

41. david
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 9:00 am

    btw. youtube was working yesterday and was totally blocked earlier today. Not re-directed for sure though.

42. K
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 9:02 am

    Gee, it’s good that Google did all that self-censorship and Yahoo did all that dissenter-hunting so they could do business in China. Sergey, Larry, Jerry, and David need to be introduced to my friend Neville Chamberlain.

43. Manuel
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 9:02 am

    Boycott the Olympics

44. JVP
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 9:08 am

    Isn’t it posible that this article was posted by a government official.. ha.

45. John
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 9:09 am

    I would hate to see this thread devolve into another nationalistic flame war. As an american, I don’t particularly like the chinese government, but I do like the people and I can tell you that we (average people, not governments) have much more in common than most people think. If you ever spend some time there you’ll enjoy it.

    As to this article, it may be an over-reaction and it has not been proven. However, I see Duncan’s point about the ease of government interference in the internet economy, and it is a very important topic IMO!

46. Bob Jones
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 9:13 am

    The US going to the WTO … I almost fell out of my chair. So the US ignores any ruling against it but wants to use it to tell China what to do? I think the US lacks one very important thing, the ability to see itself as others see it …

47. Manuel
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 9:15 am

    John, either you’re with us or you’re against us. take a stand, have a backbone.

48. vaspers aka steven e. streight
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 9:24 am

    China is a crappy totalitarian cesspool of slave labor, censorship, poison products, and oppression.

    Outsourcing to Commie China is brain dead. I hate every friggin CEO who has moved shopfloors to China.

    Poison pet food, toys, juice concentrates to USA is an Act of War.

    China is the enemy of the world.

    I have already declared cyberwar, mindbot, and blogocombat on China and am doing everything I can to destroy this rotten country.

    http://twitter.com/vaspers

49. Mark Erikson
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 9:36 am

    I’m an American currently living in Beijing, and I can at least _partially_ confirm that something’s going on. I normally use google.com, and as of right now it still works fine. However, about 30 minutes ago search.live.com began redirecting to baidu. Youtube was working yesterday, but is now timing out. Also, the “feeds” item is somewhat true as well - I’ve been unable to load any redirect involving “feeds.feedburner.com” or “feeds.dzone.com” for the last few weeks (thank goodness for Google Reader).

    That said, I think everyone needs to calm down a bit. It’s annoying and arrogant, yeah, but I doubt this is a permanent situation (it’s probably related to the current political meetings). Hang on a few days and see if it’s still happening, then figure out how to handle things.

    Oh, and Mr. Scoble? As much as I dislike this move, there’s no way this is cause for the US to abandon the Olympics. That kind of reaction is way too drastic for this sort of situation. Save that for a sudden invasion of a certain offshore “province”.

50. Cay
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 9:38 am

    @vaspers: tells us how you really feel.

51. Anand
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 9:47 am

    No offense to the Chinese guys here, but the government sure looks a loser..

52. Chris
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 9:52 am

    OK, I have received some interesting emails. I will clarify. I am not a racist. I have nothing against Chinese people. There are plenty in my area and in Montreal - China town. Chinese people are fine. It’s the oppressive govt of China I have a problem with.

    If China had the same minimum wage as Canada, $8 per hour, and cleaned up act then that would be fine. Right now they are exploiting their own people and creating trade imbalances to make the higher class in the country rich. That’s all. Then they kill and jail people who oppose them so they can stay in power.

    Hating that is not racism. That’s exactly what happened in the Soviet Union. It’s not true communism anyway. In true communism that wouldn’t happen and Google and Yahoo wouldn’t have been allowed to do business there in the first place.

53. nemrut
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 9:54 am

    @4, dude you’ve got some issues. did you learn any history while you were in school. US imperialism at the turn of the century is the sole driver for any economic/technological advancements in the US that have occurred. You and a majority of others like you are the direct beneficiaries..let’s not get started the economic benefits of slavery…

    @30, get your head out. more like 5yrs not 50yrs for China to surpass US/European mkts for Internet penetration.

54. Mayank Kumar
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 9:55 am

    Michael, will you please delete racial/abusive comments here?

    Thanks

55. Teck
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 9:57 am

    Chris, you should really shut up. period.

56. Chris
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 10:01 am

    “Chris, you should really shut up. period.”

    You’re right, the govt Van should come pick me up and throw me into a dark cell where my family and friends will never hear from me again, then repossess all of my stuff and give it to somebody in the army.

    I see the light, thanks.

57. Teck
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 10:03 am

    Yes Michael, pls do something about this. If you sort your posts based on number of comments, this has really blown out of proportion. racist comments/response is really not what highly reputable techcrunch is meant for.

58. Chris
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 10:04 am

    “highly reputable techcrunch is meant for.”

    Why an obsession over reputation and misuse of adjectives?
    Has techcrunch been dishonorable? Is honor everything?

59. Anand
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 10:06 am

    “If China had the same minimum wage as Canada, $8 per hour, and cleaned up act then that would be fine. Right now they are exploiting their own people and creating trade imbalances to make the higher class in the country rich.”

    There is something called ‘purchasing power parity’. $8 can buy you a lot many things in this part of the world. It’s not the same as $8 in US or Canada..

60. Rick
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 10:08 am

    Duncan a few days ago: “His general argument is that without the artificial market restrictions imposed on P2P networks in the United States by the RIAA and the MPAA, Chinese companies have been free to innovate and are now producing superior web technology in P2P sharing, and a whole range of related industries. If you think it’s bad that China dominates the market for consumer goods, imagine that today companies in China have already created the next wave of P2P innovation and are thriving, perhaps ironically in a Communist country, with more freedoms than their American counterparts.”

    I’m sorry, I think you were saying something about how sweet “communist” China is and something else about a lack of artificial market restrictions?

61. Chris
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 10:12 am

    “There is something called ‘purchasing power parity’. $8 can buy you a lot many things in this part of the world. It’s not the same as $8 in US or Canada..”

    If they earn the same $8 minimum per hour than us, then perhaps they won’t have to pirate software so much and silk screen knock offs of NBA apparel. Perhaps they could afford the real thing????

    Oh my. I just made an economic thing-a-mabobber.

62. Chris
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 10:13 am

    maybe even real DVDs? The sky is the limit.

63. nemrut
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 10:14 am

    @ Chris says, ‘If they earn the same $8 minimum per hour than us, then perhaps they won’t have to pirate software so much and silk screen knock offs of NBA apparel. Perhaps they could afford the real thing????’

    thanks Chris, now everyone knows how stupid and simplistic you are…i gues it doesnt take much these days to be ‘president’ of a company.

64. Tell the truth or stop playing jokes
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 10:15 am

    I don’t know what to believe. Sometimes government do lie or make up fairy tale stories… For example, I’ve travel to china…. I see women….

    There is no such thing is China have more boys than girls. The reason why china had larger population is single family own large building. You have one child or two child and live 10 story building. There large chinese babyboomers past away. One child policy… You know what’s population of china? It’s almost less than India I think.

    For godsakes… Who told you that China have more boys than girls?

65. Whatever
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 10:15 am

    Derek,

    The US has been illegally imposing tariffs on Canadian softwood? That is certainly the *Canadian* perspective, but it conveniently leaves out the US argument. Which is, that Canada’s government unfairly subsidizes the industry, therefore, we can impose a tariff since Canada isn’t playing fair.

    Facts for the win, ‘eh?

66. Chris
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 10:17 am

    “thanks Chris, now everyone knows how stupid and simplistic you are…i gues it doesnt take much these days to be ‘president’ of a company.”

    The reputation. No… please…. STOP. sob. The dishonor, bushido blade… I write code, good code. Nothing you say will change that. I don’t wear a suit sorry. You need to try to embarass one of those old school execs like Ballmer over there.

67. exapted
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 10:22 am

    @61

    Hi Chris. The Chinese generally contend that although China has a problem with copyright law enforcement, they are aware of it and taking action where possible. There is so much change in China at all times so copyright law enforcement is just one small issue in a sea of problems. It is also obvious that the United States has a problem with copyright - we have a flawed business model and flawed methods of enforcement, yet we aren’t doing much about it. Eventually the Chinese government will go to great lengths to enforce copyright laws for the sake of Microsoft and other companies that have investments in China. I don’t believe the government wishes to push away foreign corporations of any kind.

    Also, I think Microsoft and the movie studios could do a much better job of protecting their content. However there are benefits to lax enforcement of copyright laws - people in China who couldn’t otherwise afford Windows Vista or Hollywood movies can develop a taste for them before they have enough money to buy them.

68. Chris is a Tard
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 10:24 am

    Hi Mike,

    I like reading techcrunch because it is informative, and often very entertaining, however in this particular post “someone” has gone above and beyond entertaining and into just being racist.

    Chris,

    Maybe you should start a hate blog instead of spamming us all.

    Thx much.

69. Anand
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 10:25 am

    “You know what’s population of china? It’s almost less than India I think.”

    Relax buddy..India is still twenty years away from overtaking China,if it ever will..

70. Parris Whittingham
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 10:29 am

    Uhhh I am in a tiny town just outside of Beijing right now and I just finished reading my US blog http://pswhittingham.blogspot.com. Additionally, I have been working on a project out here for the last few days and using google search like a US congressman with taxpayers dollars and a fondness for traveling first-class.

    This report about the censoring is complete bullshit…Ironically, I could not view my blog UNTIL today!!!!! I love techcrunch and crunchgear but maybe you guys should leverage some partnerships with some folks in China. All this China bashing seems like the same gook that people with no world experience use to justify their ignorance. Admittedly, China is NOT perfect (far from it) but I had way more ill-conceived notions of the culture out here, based on what I allowed myself to believe from afar. I just finished writing an article about it on my blog….learn yourself some world view and then form your OWN opinions I welcome anyone who challenges my views in an intelligent manner. Holla at me

    Peace,
    Parris

71. Manuel Noriega
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 10:38 am

    @ 70 Mr. Jetsetter / Globetrotter

    I will challenge your Kungfu later. Anjoying the chicks over there?

72. August
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 10:46 am

    I think you Techcrunchies need to stop believing world’s government fairy tale sh*t, cover ups, and lies. They are using you to play mind tricks.

    Explain why JFK was killed?
    1.) Because driver was suppose visit Black towns, and took the wrong turn.
    2.) There is such thing is magic bullet that can break laws of phyics.

    Explain why Princess Diana was killed?
    1.) Because driver got drunk.
    2.) Mercedes-Benz commerical claim its safest car back in 80s

    Explain why did Kanye West say “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.
    ”
    1.) Because Kanye West is idiot and went to wrong school. He’s got million dollar and refuse donate money. He was only pay to do Katrina fundraiser.
    2.) His last name is “WEST”

    You have to stop believing hyrocrites…. People here should focus startup not politics junkies.

73. Who is spreading rumor Bullshits?
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 10:56 am

    Half of intelligent people here…. Say,

    Stop bullshitting…
    Stop lying….
    Stop acting like childish….
    Stop being tooth fairy…
    Stop hurting people’s right…
    Stop being like jerk…
    Stop manipulate people…

    Let’s just works done. Damn it. You wasting people time and can’t get jobs done.

74. #68
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 11:02 am

    Hi Chris,

    Sorry for calling you a tard man, that was unnecessary and very uncool. I got a bit heated. Aw well, makes for good reading.

75. Chris
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 11:04 am

    I don’t mind being called a tard. You see, in America and Canada, you have something called freedom of speech. You can call George Bush a retard, and nothing will happen. No van will come get you and carry you off to be tortured.

    Calling somebody retarded is an opinion. It’s not a factual statement. You can call as many people retarded as you want on this side of the ocean.

76. Markus
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 11:08 am

    “The US has been illegally imposing tariffs on Canadian softwood? That is certainly the *Canadian* perspective..”

    No, that was actually the perspective of both the WTO and NAFTA. Both organizations of which the US is a member and therefore bound to comply with it’s rulings.

    _But_ I’m not trying to start a flame war here (it looks like no help is needed) because that trade dispute has been settled for some time now. It’s old news.

77. HeyHey
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 11:13 am

    Told you so! Oh but no, we we’re just jealous of the success huh? We are just a bunch of racist that didn’t like the Chinese huh?

    Everything at Google & Yahoo was China this and China that, can’t go wrong in China.

    YOU HAVE BEEN PLAYED!

78. Kashif
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 11:26 am

    GWB should take it in his hands and deploy forces to China to stop the WMDs (Weapons of Mass Diversion).

79. Hired Gun
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 11:27 am

    Right now, the U.S., Russia, and China all have pretty scary governments. Democracy is in exactly the new black right now.

80. David Bradley
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 11:57 am

    I just spoke to a friend in China who says he can access Google, Yahoo, MSN, live everything just as normal and nothing is redirecting to Baidu.

    db

81. Danny Sullivan
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 12:23 pm

    Google confirms the blocking now for many users, added it to our story along with more items that we’re growing: http://searchengineland.com/071018-071828.php

82. jess
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 12:28 pm

    I just back from china 2 wks ago, I could access all those searches with no problems.

    what is your sources Duncan? have you verified it, or try a proxy?

83. waruwaru
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 12:31 pm

    China should just go IPO as a company.

84. David J
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 12:35 pm

    This user “Chris” is an idiot. I cannot believe the stuff he’s posting. Nothing is ever original? LOL are you kidding? All these people are saying they can access Google and Yahoo and yet your are accusing them to be government officials?? LOL. Freedom of speech? No government is perfect, they can easily turn it around and say that our society is going under from too much freedom.

    You and hate China and Baidu all you want, and it’s not going to stop China from advancing at their rapid pace. In another 10 years or so, don’t be surpised if China is more advanced than our western society. This is the reason why Baidu is a good solid pick for a growth stock.

85. Andrew
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 12:36 pm

    Ok, maybe I’m missing something completely, but here in South Africa, http://search.yahoo.com redirects to Baidu. If you go to http://www.yahoo.com and do a search, it redirects you as well. Could it be related?

86. Joe
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 1:45 pm

    The Chinese government knows it is the fattest and dumbest kid in the school yard and has no problem punishing its people for the transgressions (read: more civilized behaviors) of outside governments, primarily the US and its supporters.

    There is a lot of bad press about its lack of action in Burma and its hatred of the Dalai Lama.

    I don’t know why this would be a big deal or a surprise if it turns out to be true. A Communist dictatorship must, by definition, stifle freedom of information and expression if it is to maintain its grip on the people.

87. Skevo
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 1:58 pm

    If the change was made in DNS, it will take awhile to resolve, which is why some in China are seeing this and some are not.

    I have many friends in China, they’ll be logging on in about 5 hours. They’re in Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Chengdu. I’ll have definitive information then and post it here.

88. annonymous coward
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 2:13 pm

    i want to hear fake steve ballmer’s comment . lol.

89. i don't need an ipodom!
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 2:18 pm

    dump baidu stocks!

90. exapted
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 2:19 pm

    @85
    “Ok, maybe I’m missing something completely, but here in South Africa, http://search.yahoo.com redirects to Baidu. If you go to http://www.yahoo.com and do a search, it redirects you as well. Could it be related?”

    Yep, you nailed it. The Chinese government and Baidu have infiltrated foreign internet infrastructures so that when you, a non-Chinese, try to access an English language search portal, you are redirected to Baidu.com in Chinese!!!! Genius!!!!! Such strategic mastery!!!! The new cold war has begun.

91. David J's Brain
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 2:24 pm

    @David J: “In another 10 years or so, don’t be surpised if China is more advanced than our western society.”

    Are you on psychotic medication? Sure, China has a lot of foreign reserves on hand but they can sink that entire surplus into their own country and still come up short. Very, very short. 500 million people in China live in dire poverty with no education, no healthcare, no infrastructure. They need all the money they make to simply prevent a gigantic amount of class-warfare (80k riots last year alone, except of course that they didn’t happen in Shanghai).

    You probably have never visited China, or read about China aside from ra-ra 9% annual growth soundbites, so whatever, another ignorant tech-bozo spouting opinions out of his ass.

    Listen to this for a slightly more in-depth discussion http://www.kqed.org/.stream/an.....-forum.mp3

92. Marcus
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 2:24 pm

    My god, what has happened with the comments section here.. Just in the last couple of days, all these very inarticulate “aliases” with no appreciation for nuances have arrived.

    I’m not commenting specifically on the grammar, just the general.. mindlessness.

    And then this one:

    “For example, I’ve travel to china…. I see women….

    There is no such thing is China have more boys than girls”

    .. Yeah. Of course, if you saw women when you were there, then all those official and unofficial statistics as well as the general consensus about the issue in the international scientific community does not matter.

    That thing about “117 boys for every 100 girls”, that it is obviously just an urban myth.

    http://preview.tinyurl.com/2xdx7r

    And please, please differentiate between people/individuals and their government. Especially in countries like China where, you know, they have not even had the chance to choose their government.

93. Jeremy
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 2:26 pm

    @ 79

    USA is a Republic not a Democracy….and yes my statement is completely off topic

94. Ted Murphy
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 2:28 pm

    Duncan and the TC team,

    Now that you guys have found an alternative to get amazing number of comments on your blog without talking about PayPerPost, can I expect my site to be spared in future?

    I demand a reply.

    Thanks

95. Jeremy
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 2:30 pm

    Check out the link from Danny Sullivan @ post 81. A little bit more info to go on.

96. How do you sue Government for lying?
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 3:06 pm

    Can you sue Government for lying?

97. a reader
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 3:34 pm

    Just tested with two proxy servers within China, one in Shanghai, another in Beijing. Had no problem whatsoever access google.com, (including blogsearch.google.com), yahoo.com, live.com.

98. phenom
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 3:39 pm

    this will result in huge losses to small business groups….so glad to be born in a country where democracy exists

    http://vidsonly.blogspot.com

99. agnes
    

    October 18th, 2007 at 3:57 pm

    chris, the bushido blade is japanese, not chinese.

100. Skevo
     

     October 18th, 2007 at 5:49 pm

     Quick follow-up, my friends in Guangzhou and Shenzhen are awake this morning and running Google searches just fine.

     I’d guess that this is either a false alarm, or someone running the Great Firewall of China goofed and put things back together already.

101. kai
     

     October 18th, 2007 at 6:23 pm

     I checked with a couple of users in China.
     None of the site got redirected to Baidu

102. Marc
     

     October 18th, 2007 at 7:03 pm

     Wish the Canadians in this thread would stop lamenting about their “soft wood”. Your wood could be a lot harder if you just didn’t worry so much.

     As for China. BOYCOTT the Olympics!!! Viva Taiwan!!!

     In twenty years India will be a bigger player than China with a government we can relate to. So stop walking on eggshells around China.

103. Marc
     

     October 18th, 2007 at 7:08 pm

     And FREE TIBET!!!!! The world needs to stop giving China such a wide berth. Get some backbone and start calling them out. Th