China appears to have blocked leading search engine Google, sparking speculation of a crackdown on Internet content viewed as subversive ahead of a Communist Party Congress in November.The US-based website, which has become popular among Internet surfers in China because of its simplicity and ability to run through Chinese-language Web searches, was inaccessible via Chinese servers as early as Saturday, users said.‘‘It’s being blocked out of Beijing,’’ said one industry insider, who follows China’s regulation of the Internet closely. The government openly attempts to control Web content in China, where the Internet threatens Communist Party control over the media. It blocks several foreign news sites and frequently forces domestic sites to expunge content deemed unwholesome.An article posted on web portal netease.com said Google is being blocked because searches could bring up links to pornography, content associated with the banned spiritual movement Falun Gong and information deemed harmful to national security.China’s media censors tend to be particularly edgy during politically sensitive times, analysts said, and a Google block may be an attempt to sweep up ahead of the party congress, which is expected to see sweeping leadership changes. It is the first time the government had blocked access to an Internet search engine, analysts said.‘‘It’s pretty surprising,’’ said Nathan Midler, a senior analyst at International Data Corp in Beijing. ‘‘Google, as a search engine, doesn’t necessarily conjure up the idea of a website worth blocking.’’ ‘‘It’s a very, very popular tool and there’s a major hassle factor,’’ head of Beijing-based tech consultancy BDA China Ltd, Duncan Clark said. ‘‘But ultimately, in the run-up to something like the Party Congress, it’s batten down the hatches,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s not like Sina or Sohu where all they need to do is make a phone call and they can remedy the situation. It doesn’t even matter if they make a phone call, Google is not going to do anything as a result of it,’’ IDC’s Midler said. (Reuters)
