Story not over yet: Google co-founder

Google has found negotiations with the Chinese government in recent weeks to be subtle and uncertain. That was the message from an interview on Monday with Sergey Brin,Googles co-founder.

Hong Kong has been part of China since 1997,but operates under a one country,two systems philosophy. The mainland authorities do not censor political news and searches on the web in Hong Kong. The shift of its Chinese service to Hong Kong,Brin said,was not given a clear-cut stamp of approval by Beijing. But he said there was a back and forth with the Chinese government. There was a sense that Hong Kong was the right step, Brin said. Theres a lot of lack of clarity. Our hope is that the newly begun Hong Kong service will continue to be available in mainland China. But he added,The storys not over yet.

The US government,Brin said,was not involved in shaping the companys policy.

Brin lived in the USSR until he was 6 ,and he said the experience of living under a totalitarian system influenced his thinking. It has definitely shaped my views,and some of my companys views.

Two months ago Google cited hacking and evidence of spying on the Gmail accounts of Chinese dissidents as motivations for reconsidering its China stance. Brin said those episodes were deeply troubling. He stopped short of saying the Chinese government was directly involved. But,he added,Our objection is to those forces of totalitarianism, he said.