海角大神

A familiar pattern has emerged in Beijing since Google announced that it would close its Chinese business聽unless it is allowed to operate its search engine here uncensored.

The Internet exploded in a welter of comment from China鈥檚 online community, mostly supportive of Google. The government has remained tight-lipped, and now appears to have ordered websites to stifle discussion of the affair.

Making no mention of Google or its bombshell announcement, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Thursday only that 鈥淐hina鈥檚 Internet is open. The Chinese government encourages development of the Internet and is building a beneficial environment for it.鈥�

Casting doubt on that assertion, China鈥檚 four largest Web portals Thursday deleted the thousands of comments on Google鈥檚 announcement that had been posted the day before. The Chinese government routinely directs major websites not to allow posts about sensitive subjects.

鈥楪oogle has guts鈥�

Still lively was Twitter, popular with tech-savvy users who know how to circumvent the government鈥檚 block on the social-networking site.

Tweets have shown 鈥渙verwhelming support for Google,鈥� says Michael Anti, a Beijing-based media analyst. 鈥淭hey are saying Google has guts.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 not Google that鈥檚 withdrawing from China; it鈥檚 China that鈥檚 withdrawing from the world,鈥� read one Tweet at #Googlecn.

Chinese users of Twitter, however, who probably number no more than 100,000, tend to be able to read enough English to be able to use Google.com, which is available in China uncensored. They do not rely on the Chinese language Google.cn, which is filtered, and can thus contemplate its possible disappearance with equanimity.

鈥榁ery sad鈥� if Google leaves

So can the majority of Chinese Internet users; 60 percent of them search the Web with a homegrown search engine, Baidu, which has twice as many users as Google.cn.

Baidu, however, cannot match Google.cn services聽such as maps, translation, and calendars, and most Google.cn users, unfamiliar with English, expressed dismay at the prospect of living without their favorite search engine.

鈥淲ithout Google 鈥� I wouldn鈥檛 be able to finish so many tasks in one day,鈥� wrote Sun Bo, a 鈥渘etizen,鈥� on his blog. 鈥淲ithout Google, how can we survive?鈥�

One blogger hosted an online opinion poll: 80 percent of respondents said they were 鈥渧ery sad鈥� that Google might not be available in China, while 9 percent said they were happy.

Among those who welcomed the news that Google.cn might close were the nationalists who are very vocal on the Chinese Internet. 鈥淭he party has finally kicked [Google] away,鈥� wrote one anonymous user on the Techweb site. 鈥淚t is another big victory over American imperialism.鈥�