Supporters on Wednesday left candles and flowers outside Google's China headquarters, following an announcement that the Internet giant may quit China. Google said on Tuesday that it would review the feasibility of its business operations in China, after a cyber attack originating from China resulted in the loss of intellectual property. It said it may close its google.cn site and shut down its China offices, blaming censorship and a series of China-based sophisticated hacking attempts on human rights activists' email accounts.Outside the company's Beijing offices individuals arrived to place candles and flowers on the ground next to a large Google sign. The people gathered by the large number of flowers and candles said the company's departure would have a negative effect on both business and personal life. Google's threat to pull out of China over censorship and hacking intensified Sino-U.S. friction on Wednesday as Washington said Internet control was a serious issue and demanded an explanation from Beijing. Beijing has not made any significant comment since Google, the world's top search engine, said it will not abide by censorship. Differences over the Internet now seem sure to intensify tensions between the United States and China, joining friction over climate change, trade, human rights and military ambition.China's ruling Communist Party, wary of the Internet becoming an uncontrolled forum for the country's 360 million Internet users, is unlikely to allow Google to avoid repercussions.If google.cn shuts down, Beijing may also seek to restrict access to Google's main search engine, which can also carry out searches in Chinese, although China's firewall of Internet filters blocks many users from opening up the results.
