China shows no signs of backing down in Google fight

China said it has an open Internet and welcomes international companies that meet its laws in its first official response to Google’s threat to pull out of the country.

Government spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a regular news briefing that China encouraged development of the Internet according to a report by Xinhua, China’s official news service. She also said its laws prohibit cyber attacks.

“China’s Internet is open,” Jiang said. “China has tried creating a favorable environment for Internet.

Google threatened to pull out of China after a sophisticated cyber attack on its corporate infrastructure that also affected about 20 other companies. The attacks appeared to be aimed at accessing the Gmail accounts of human rights activists in China, according to Google.

The attacks also may have been aimed at gathering information on company technologies.

Google has said it will stop censoring the responses its search engines offer in China, which will set it up for a clash with China’s government. It has also said it might end its Google.cn site, which is based in China.

Members of Congress including Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) have praised Google for threatening to remove itself from the country. Administration officials including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have demanded an explanation from China.

Jiang offered no signs of a compromise in her comments at the news conference.

“China welcomes international Internet companies to conduct business within the country according to law,” she said. “China’s law prohibits cyber crimes including hacker attacks.”