Now the world's most populous internet community, China often makes the headlines for its heavy-handed approach towards web censorship. So the news that the Chinese government is investigating search engines that are apparently "spying" on the country will come as no surprise to most.The Telegraph reports that Min Yiren, China's deputy head of the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping, has pledged to eliminate online maps that wrongly display the borders of the People's Republic, as well as those which could potentially reveal military secrets. In fact, a total of eight government ministries will be devoting their resources to the task of examining a range of online maps to determine whether or not they put China's "territorial integrity" at risk.
The main offenders, according to Min, are largely China-based sites - including the country's leading search engine, Baidu, and Sohu.com, the Official Internet Content Service Sponsor for the Beijing Olympics this year. However, search giant Google may also be obliged to adhere to any regulations China passes about its online maps, although, as the Telegraph states, "... much of [the search engine's] operations are hosted on Google servers elsewhere, over which the Chinese authorities have no authority, though they can order them to be blocked by the so-called 'Great Firewall' of China."
So what exactly could the Chinese be disputing about the depictions of their online maps? To begin with, there's the issue of Taiwan, an island China still claims as its own - any depiction of Taiwan as an independent territory is sure to be met with disapproval from the Chinese internet police. In addition, satellite images shown on online maps, like Google Earth or Google Maps, could reveal the extent of China's military presence in controversial regions like Tibet, as well as various disputed points along the Chinese-Indian border.
In reality, this crackdown is merely one in a series of measures that the Chinese authorities have been putting in place over the last few months. Following the temporary banning of YouTube and Google News in the wake of the demonstrations in Tibet in March, Min suggested that there could be as many as 10, 000 online maps of China displaying "unapproved" geographical borders. According to WebProNews, Min stated then, "Some websites publish sensitive or confidential geographical information, which might leak State secrets and threaten security."
With the Beijing Olympic Games fast approaching, it's clear that China is trying to play down its military presence and disputed territories as all international eyes turn towards the country this summer - especially after the anti-China protests that blighted the Olympic Torch relay in major cities like London and Paris last month.
However, the actual effect this will have on search engines, and whether they will be forced to comply with China's directives is unclear. Home-grown entities like Baidu and Sohu.com might find they have little choice and if international sites like Google opt to fall under the hammer, the consequences could resonate globally, as other countries with historically contended borders - India, Turkey and Israel, to name just a few - could put pressure on the search giant to make similar changes.
