Google Announced yesterday that it might leave the search business in China after a hacking attack resulted in the theft of valuable source code and intellectual property owned by Google. Google also cited rampant hacking of email accounts as another reason it is considering vacating the Chinese market.

Google Chief Legal counsel David Drummond wrote at the time Google made the announcement, "In mid-December, we detected a highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China that resulted in the theft of intellectual property from Google. However, it soon became clear that what at first appeared to be solely a security incident--albeit a significant one--was something quite different."

To this point, Google has adhered to Chinese law by censoring and blocking content deemed objectionable by the Chinese government. Google has announced that it intends to stop censoring its content in China and will seek to make an agreement with the Chinese government. The official response from China didn’t specifically name Google, but the intention was clear.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said, "The Chinese government administers the Internet according to law and we have explicit stipulations over what content can be spread on the Internet." The Chinese government also stated that it welcomed global internet firms that obeyed the laws in China.

Google has stated that it wants to come to an agreement with China that would allow it to offer unfiltered searches and that it would be removing the restrictions on searched in the coming weeks.

Drummond said, "We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China."

Google appears ready to push this as far as it can, even if that means an end to Google in China. Duncan Clark, the chairman of Internet and telecommunications consulting firm BDA China said, "Google.cn is toast. Just keep pressing refresh on your browser and see what happens."

China is expected to take a very firm stance against the unfaltering of Google search results. Huang Jin, a professor at the National University of Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy said, "The Chinese government may want to give Google’s high- profile move the cold shoulder. Given the reason Google cited in its announcement -- that Google.cn can no longer put up with Beijing’s censorship -- the CCP leaders are afraid that it could set a dangerous political precedent should they compromise on this one."

If Google leaves the Chinese search market, the firms left will include the leader in Chinese search Baidu, Yahoo, and Microsoft. Wang Chen, director of the State Council Information Office said, "Effective guidance of public opinion on the Internet is an important way of protecting the security of online information." Wang also stated, "China is a country being harmed by Internet hackers and is firmly opposed to hacking attacks."