China Calls Google's Plan to End Web Censorship 'Unfriendly'

China said Google Inc. would be "unfriendly and irresponsible" if it defies rules to filter online content, commenting on a censorship dispute between the government and the owner of the most popular search engine.

"I hope Google will abide by Chinese laws and regulations," Li Yizhong, minister of industry and information technology, said at a briefing in Beijing today. "The company will have to bear the related results" if rules are violated, Li said, adding it was up to the company to decide if it wanted to stay in China. Li's comments, days after Google Chairman Eric Schmidt said "something will happen soon," signal talks with the government following Google's plan to end censorship at its Chinese site may be prolonged. Failure to settle the dispute may result in the Mountain View, California-based company's exit from the world's biggest Internet market, handing more sales to local rivals including Baidu Inc. and Tencent Holdings.

Censorship of Web content "is a matter of very high priority for the Chinese leadership," said Joseph Cheng, a professor of politics at the City University of Hong Kong. "If Google intends to remain in China, it has to largely satisfy China's demands."