Google plan for censored search engine in China slammed by Trump administration

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on trade tensions with China, trade talks with Europe and Mexico and reports Google is working on a censored version of its search engine for China.

The Trump administration ripped Beijing on Thursday over its apparently successful pressure on Google to launch a censored search engine in China.

Internal Google documents, as well as people familiar with the matter, indicate that the U.S. company will launch in China a mobile search engine that blocks websites and search terms China’s government objects to, according to The Intercept.

If Alphabet, the parent of Google, goes ahead with such a search engine it would mark a 180-degree turn from its decision to leave China eight years ago over that government's demand for censorship.

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"If the press reports are true, this is another sign of China using government intervention to influence what should be purely commercial decisions," U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on "Mornings with Maria."

Ross' comments come as the White House is threatening to more than double proposed tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods with a 25% tariff, up from its initial 10% tax.