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Google should stop working on a search engine designed to comply with Chinese censorship rules, said Vice President Mike Pence.
In a statement to a political institute on the Chinese policy of the Trump administration, Pence said almost in passing: "Google should immediately end the development of the" Dragonfly "app that will strengthen the Communist Party's censorship and jeopardize life. private Chinese customers. "
Google has not publicly acknowledged the existence of this internal effort, which has not been endorsed or apparently demonstrated by the Chinese authorities. Reports have indicated that Google has been designed to allow Google to abide by the strict rules set by Chinese censorship for search results.
Dragonfly's disclosures have sparked differences of opinion among Google employees about the company's project, which some say goes against the stated basic principles. Several Google employees have left the company, including at least one senior.
In 2010, Google closed most of its activities in mainland China even though it continues to operate China-centric sites elsewhere, including Hong Kong, which retains a low degree of independence compared to the rest of the country.
China blocks services managed by Google, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, among other popular services. For its social networks and local search engines, the government employs tens of thousands of people to review microblogs and other publications, in addition to blocking and automated reporting.
Pence's speech had the twofold objective of expressing the desire to work closely with China, while cautioning on what he said was the country's "whole-of-government" approach to extending its influence and interests to the world. global and American levels. The Trump administration applied tariffs this year on nearly half of all products imported from China into the United States, because of what President Donald Trump called unfair trade practices on the part of the nation which dominates Asia.
Pence pointed to some particular practices, including a policy demanding that companies based in other countries provide trade secrets to their Chinese partners and what he described as wholesale industrial espionage. perpetuated by the government to obtain US civilian and military technology.
Mr. Pence also condemned a whole series of human rights violations, including China's crackdown on the practice of Buddhism, the imprisonment of one million Uighurs (an ethnic minority in China). largely Muslim) and the repression of Christians of all faiths.
The vice president praised the journalistic investigations into what he called "China's interference in our society," and urged more such reports.
