Google's threathas heightened fears among Chinese internet users that the country could be on its way out of the global network.
“This is not an issue of Google abandoning China, but one of China abandoning the world,” one prominent blogger, Hecaitou, said on Twitter. Hecaitou's blog was recently blocked in a growingclampdown.
Beijing has increased surveillance and regulation of the web during the past year. Last month, the Ministry for Industry and Information Technology announced that it would start requiring all sites to register their domain names with the government. Analysts say the move could transform China's web into a vast intranet.