China standing firm on web censorship laws

IN China’s first official response to Google’s threat to leave the country, the government yesterday said foreign internet companies are welcome but must obey the law and gave no hint of a possible compromise over web censorship.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu, without mentioning Google by name, said Beijing prohibits email hacking, another issue cited by the company. She was responding to questions about Google at a regular ministry briefing.

“China’s internet is open,” Jiang said.