Google stuck in the middle
2005-10-20 15:28
San Francisco - Google Inc's popular online mapping service has become entangled in a long-running territorial dispute between China and Taiwan.
Until recently, Google's maps described Taiwan as a "province of China". That sparked protests from Taiwan's government, which has considered its island an independent state since ending a civil war with China more than a half-century ago.
Shortly after Taiwan's foreign ministry formally complained, the China reference abruptly disappeared from Google's Taiwan map last week.
That change has provoked cries of dismay in China and talk of a possible boycott of Google's service in that country, according to Chinese media.
Phone messages left with the Chinese consulate seeking comment weren't returned on Wednesday.
The change doesn't reflect Google's political opinion on the dispute, according to company spokesperson Debbie Frost.
She said Google wanted to enlarge its map images to make them even easier for users to see, so it removed all text from the left corner of the webpage.
The long-planned switch also has removed the descriptive phrases that appeared alongside other countries on Google's maps.
China is a strategically important to Google and its two biggest rivals, Yahoo and Microsoft, because the country represents the world's largest internet audience outside the United States.
Some human rights and free-speech activists have criticised the US technology companies for submitting to repressive Chinese laws to protect their business interests in the country.
- AP