Clinton to press China Foreign Minister on Internet issue

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will press China's foreign minister on the issue of Internet freedom, a growing irritant in ties between the two powers, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday.

Sec Clinton, in London for meetings on Yemen and Afghanistan, will meet Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on Thursday and is likely to raise the dispute, which has been brought into focus by search engine giant Google's threat to abandon the Chinese market over charges of government interference. "I think it is likely that they will end up discussing, maybe not the specific Google situation but the broader issue," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Sec Clinton has already publicly asked China to respond to Google's charges, which include censorship and a sophisticated hacking attack mounted from within the country. She has also laid out a broad U.S. policy calling for unfettered Internet access around the world and said that countries or individuals who engage in cyber attacks should face consequences.