Courtesy of Tyler Durden
Earlier we highlighted a very sternly worded anti-US essay on the front page of the primary communist party daily. Some thought it was merely yet more posturing. Alas, they may have been very wrong. Associated Press reports that Google has now been completely blocked from mainland China access, with few if any details coming from Google itself, meaning this was another unilateral muscle flexing exercise by China. However, as far as Google is concerned, and judging by BIDU stock after hours, it may well be game over for the great Chinese decoupling experiment.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Google says people in mainland China are being blocked from using its Internet search engine.
The company posted a Thursday notice about the new barrier without any other details. A Google spokesman in the U.S. says he is still trying to gather information about the situation in China.
It’s the latest twist in a high-profile showdown over Internet censorship pitting Google against China’s communist government.
Google risked having its search engine cut off from the world’s most populous country because it was no longer willing to let China’s government control its search results. The two sides had appeared to reach a truce three weeks ago when China renewed Google’s Internet license there.