Google CEO Eric Schmidt told reporters at a media summit in Abu Dhabi today that talks between Google and the Chinese government will soon end and that “something will happen soon,” according to a Wall Street Journal report.
What “that something” will be remains an unknown. When Google said in January that the company had fallen victim to a sophisticated cyber attack that originated in China, it threatened to stop censoring search results - as the Chinese government requires - and even threatened to shutter its operations in that country.
But so far, none of those things have happened and Google has said very little about the talks that it’s engaged in with government officials. The division created by the fallout from the attacks has also placed a slight strain on U.S.-China relations but all parties have been quick to note that one is not being influenced by the other.
Chinese officials have also said they won’t limit use of Google’s Android OS by telecom companies in China, an important thing to note as Schmidt also spent time at the press conference talking about the importance of mobile phones, calling them “supercomputers.”
Last month, reports surfaced that the cyber attacks originated at a university, as well as a vocational school with ties to the Chinese military.
Also see: Special Report: Google, China showdown
