Google says mobile services now mostly accessible in China

IDG News Service - Google said its mobile services in China were fully accessible or subject only to small-scale blocking, upgrading them late on Wednesday from "partially blocked" on a status page.

The change could signal an easing of tensions after the Internet search giant angered China by ending censorship of search results for users in the country. The status change means most Chinese users should have no problem accessing Google search from their mobile phones, even though Google is allowing politically sensitive search results to appear.

Tests on two mobile phones with GPRS data connections in Beijing showed Google's Hong Kong search site could be accessed on Thursday in China. That site was unavailable in a similar test last week. Google's mobile services include search, maps and news.

Users in China may still face troubles because the services censored by local mobile network operators around the country can vary, and Google's status label still means its services could see some blocking.

Google last month began redirecting Chinese users from its old China-based search site, Google.cn, to its Hong Kong site at Google.com.hk. Google had conformed to Chinese government demands to censor results on its China search engine, but that content -- such as certain information about the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader -- will turn up in results on its Hong Kong site.

There has been some fallout. China was quick to condemn Google's move as "totally wrong." One China partner, Web portal owner Tom Online, dropped Google and turned to rival Baidu.com for search service on its site after Google's announcement. Mobile carrier China Unicom has said it does not plan to put Google search on its phones.

Google's China status page this week also started listing its Picasa photo-sharing service as fully blocked. Picasa has long been inaccessible in China, but the status page previously listed it as partially blocked. A Google spokeswoman confirmed Picasa was blocked in China.

The status page began listing Google's mobile services as partially blocked in China over a week ago.

While Google's move from China to Hong Kong means it is no longer censoring results itself, China controls the flow of Internet data from all Web sites outside the country via the Great Firewall, a term that describes the servers and software dedicated to filtering traffic. That means that Chinese users will still have problems loading certain search results pages from Google's Hong Kong site, or clicking through some links.

China requires all companies operating Web sites inside its borders to censor material that is politically sensitive or morally undesirable, such as pornography. All Web sites outside of China face the Great Firewall as a barrier.