Google's Schmidt wants China to make nice

For years, Google's informal motto was "Don't be evil" -- but when it comes to Chinese censorship, the search giant is keen to take that credo even further.

Chief Executive Eric Schmidt is applying pressure to China to improve free access to the Internet, he said yesterday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

"We love what China is doing as a country and its growth," Schmidt said, according to Bloomberg News. "We just don't like the censorship. We hope to apply some negotiation or pressure to make things better for the Chinese people."

Schmidt's comments come two weeks after Google said it would buck local law and stop censoring its search results in China, and might shut down its operations there if it couldn't reach some sort of resolution with the government. It hasn't yet acted on the threats.

The attack of conscience followed Google's discovery last month of a "highly sophisticated" cyber attack that it said targeted the Gmail accounts of several Chinese human-rights activists.

Google's controversial decision has heightened tensions between the US and China, as well as underscored worries about cyber warfare. In a speech in Washington earlier this month, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged US tech firms to resist Internet censorship, and on Thursday said that China and Russia should promote Internet security -- before their companies become the next victims of an attack.

China has defended its policies, denied involvement in any cyber attacks and demanded that companies doing business in the country adhere to its laws.

Google entered the Chinese market in 2006, and still ranks second to homegrown company Baidu, with about a 30 percent market share.

"We would very much like to stay in China. We would very much like the censorship we oppose to improve in China," Schmidt said.