LinkedIn service resumes in China

February 26, 2011, Last updated at 03: 52 GMT LinkedIn believes it is now available again in China Business networking site LinkedIn says access to its services seems to have been restored in China, the day after it was blocked.

"We will continue to monitor the situation," said a spokesperson for the U.S. to the site.

Shortly before the site went offline on Friday, a user set up a forum to discuss the idea of a "revolution" Jasmine "in China.

The phrase was used to describe the popular revolts in the Middle East.

News agency Agence France-Presse says that one of its journalists in Beijing was able to access the site LinkedIn on Saturday.

Last weekend, a number of demonstrations pro-democracy has performed throughout China, with police, making it a handful of arrests.

Thought that the protests were organized in response to calls made on Boxun.com, whose access is prohibited in the mainland China.

Shortly after, a LinkedIn user named Jasmine J created a group called Jasmine Voice.

In a posting, wrote: "OMG, some fighters for democracy really did do something here after the triumph of Egypt".

' Jasmine ' blocked

China already has a strict control over what the public can view online, with many websites blocked and politically sensitive issues. Access to Facebook and Twitter is statute-barred.

But LinkedIn, which is used by a relatively small number of professionals, is accessible via the server within internet within China.

However there seem to be that the authorities have increased the level of filter in response to the wave of popular uprisings in the Middle East.

Searches for the word "Jasmine" now I'm stuck on the most popular website in the country, Sina.com.

Internet users within the country has reported that some sites were also block information on Jon Huntsman, Ambassador of the United States in Beijing.

Mr. Huntsman was seen rallies to attend one of last weekend's pro-democracy.

Campaign group reporters without borders criticized the escalation in China NET censorship, accusing the authorities try to eradicate all forms of freedom of expression ".

Workers sickened at Apple supplier in China

Apple, describing it as a "violation of core" safety of workers, said that he had ordered the contractor to stop using chemical and to improve safety at the installation. Apple also said that they would monitor the medical conditions of workers.

But in interviews last weekend, almost a dozen employees say it's been damaged by chemical said he had never heard from anyone at Apple.

Instead, they told the contractor — a Taiwanese company called Wintek — had pressed them and many other workers affected to resign and accept cash settlements that would fulfil the responsibility for the future, charges the company denied.

"We hope that Apple will pay attention to its social responsibility," said Jia Jingchuan, 27. Said display at the plant to Wintek for the chemical, known as n-hexane, had left him with damage to the nervous system and made it so hypersensitive to cold that now he must wear down insulated clothing, even indoors. "Usually someone my age not wearing this kind of pants," said his voice raising awareness. "Only men 50 or 60 years wear something like this."

Monday, however, a Wintek spokesman denied that the company was pushing employees to resign or sign documents fulfilling the company's future liability.

The company said that he was working with healthcare professionals to assess the health of workers. Jay Huang, the spokesperson, Wintek has even suggested that it would be willing to pay for medical care should symptoms persist after the resignation of workers.

"Wintek's policy of handling this is to the benefit of workers, as the first priority," he said.

Kristin Huguet, a spokesman at Apple in Cupertino, California, has refused to discuss appropriate Wintek but said that the company has been committed to the highest standards of social responsibility in its supply chain. "We need our suppliers provide safe working conditions, treat employees with dignity and respect and use environmentally friendly manufacturing processes, whenever our products are made," he said.

Many workers, however, say that do not trust factory because some managers continue to press workers injured to resign, sometimes insisting that they work longer hours, even if their health is compromised.

Mr. Jia, a machine repair worker, was among a group of employees gathered Sunday Wintek to discuss the case of unheated Apartment naked, a worker a few miles from the factory.

Some members of the group said that they were suffering from health problems still at work in the factory, which employs 18,000 employees at an average monthly wage of approximately $ 200, after hours of overtime.

Wang Mei, 37, Wintek, a supervisor of quality inspector said that she was hospitalized for 10 months due to n-hexane poisoning. Said he would leave the factory, but only after receiving assurances that Wintek would cover your medical bills, if kept his health problems.

"It's not that we want to work here," he said Sunday, as she tried to explain why she stays at the factory despite symptoms such as pain, recurrent in his limbs and fatigue. "We want to fight for our legal rights."

Another woman came into the room waving a letter from an insurance company in China, it for insurance life because she had been poisoned at Wintek factory.

Although many workers said that he hadn't heard from Apple, and had been pressed to leave Wintek, a worker has said that an employee of Apple had arrived at the factory in Suzhou, the Tuesday and had met with a few workers affected.

Workers also told Wintek managers appeared to be softening their stance earlier this week telling various workers injured that they would no longer be required to sign documents if they choose to resign.

Wintek injuries highlight the challenges Apple faces in trying to source goods from China, which dominates the production of electronics with cheap labour and highly efficient factories that often operate around the clock.

But China is also known for the factories that ordinarily do not comply with environmental and labor laws.

Chen Xiaoduan contributed research.

China Telecom giant, foiled in U.S. Deals, search of inquiry to clear name

SHANGHAI — In an unusual move, Huawei Technologies, one of the most successful companies in China, has asked the United States to formally investigate his background in hopes of clearing the path of the company to expand and to bid in the United States.

In an open letter published Friday, Huawei complained that the push in the United States had been undermined by false accusations and exchanged the suspicions that the company had close ties with the Chinese Government and the military, and that the company did not respect the intellectual property rights.

The letter, simply labeled "Huawei Open Letter" and addressed to any person or agency, in particular, was by Ken Hu, President of Huawei USA and Vice President of its parent company, Huawei Technologies.

Huawei, according to the world's largest manufacturer of telecommunication equipment, after Ericsson of Sweden, is frustrated by his inability to bid in the United States, said the letter and is determined to cooperate with the Government of the United States to help clarify what the company said had misperceptions about its history and business operations.

"We sincerely hope that the Government of the United States of America will make a formal inquiry on any problems that it can have on Huawei," Mr. Hu wrote.

The letter was released a few days after Huawei cancelled an agreement reached last year to buy the assets of 3Leaf systems, an insolvent company, headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., who developed the technology for connecting computers off-the-shelf to more powerful machines.

Acquisition of Huawei goods had been challenged by the Senators of the United States and had been reviewed by the Committee on foreign investments in the United States — a Federal Interagency Committee that includes the Office of the Secretary of the Treasury. The Committee had requested the Huawei to relax the 3Leaf affair.

Last week, an official from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce has accused the US Government's use of national security concerns and other reasons to "interfere" with Chinese investment in the United States and that such actions could affect relations in Beijing with Washington.

Huawei has also encountered problems when tried much more great deals, how to buy a stake in 3Com, offers American companies on assets of Motorola and, more recently, trying to sell advanced wireless equipment to Sprint Nextel, one of the largest American wireless operators.

None of those deals are completed, in large part because of concern in Washington that Huawei might pose a risk to national security.

In response, the Treasury Department said Friday: "We strongly support the bipartisan efforts of long-standing U.S. welcoming foreign investments, consistent with national security. This includes investments from China ".

Duncan Clark, Chairman, BDA China, a technology consulting firm in Beijing, said Huawei's decision to call for an investigation of the Government seemed like the logical next step, especially since some customers Americans were eager to use equipment Huawei because its products were at competitive prices.

"From the viewpoint of Huawei, there is nothing to lose," said by phone. "To some extent, have tried everything else."

Last year, a group of Republican senators wrote to administrators of the four federal agencies after the hearing of the affair Sprint can say that they were disturbed by the history of Huawei.

Senators including Jon Kyl of Arizona, and Susan Collins of Maine, said that there were indications that Huawei would have provided communications equipment in Iran and Iraq during the regime of Saddam Hussein, possibly in violation of UN sanctions.

Senators and some national security experts in Washington have also said that giving contracts to Huawei could allow the Chinese Government to manipulate the American wireless networks and disrupt or intercept Internet messages and phone.

The company's image problems seem to arise from the reports of the Government of the United States, including one from the Department of Defense, and testimonials from national security experts who have interpreted Huawei as having close ties with the Chinese Government and its military forces.

In addition, Huawei has been assisted in its expansion overseas by credit lines made available by the Chinese Government — as more than 30 billion dollars in recent years.

The company said, however, that the money had been made available to overseas customers, Huawei, and the amount used was close to $ 10 billion. In his open letter, Huawei also said that last year had bought 6 billion dollars worth of products and services from American companies.

The statement was intended to counter allegations that Huawei had stolen intellectual property from American companies.

In the last decade, Huawei has been quoted in the United States by two of its competitors: Cisco Systems, which subsequently settled with Huawei and Motorola.

In Court documents filed last summer in Illinois, Motorola said that Chinese-born engineers at Motorola had developed contacts with the founder of Huawei, created a dummy corporation and, between 2003 and 2007, conspired to steal the technology from Motorola and pass it on to Huawei.

Huawei executives said the suit was resolved by Cisco and the seed of Motorola had no merit.

Despite these problems, Huawei has grown into a powerful global system. The company had revenues of over $ 22 billion last year and has signed contracts for equipment, huge in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Founded in 1987 by a former official of China people's Liberation Army, Huawei has struck partnerships with most telecommunications giants of world leaders.

And began to win respect by telecommunications experts for the development of innovative products and the construction of research and development centers.

One of these centers opened in Silicon Valley.

Still, the company has struggled to win business in the United States, despite having taken companies influential lobbyists and public relations.

U.S. tweaks China over web-cancellation diplomat

WASHINGTON — The United States is perfect China for his line blockade of American Ambassador's name.
Search by name of Ambassador Jon Huntsman in Chinese on a popular microblogging site called Sina Weibo were met with a message Friday that said results were available due to an unspecified "laws, regulations and policies."

Huntsman, a Republican, is leaving his post and is seen as a potential competitor of the White House in 2012.

State Department spokesman said P.J. Crowley in a Twitter post that "it is remarkable Saturday" that, even before leaving Beijing, Huntsman, "China has made him disappear from the Internet".

China apparently expanded its Internet police after online calls for protests that swept the Middle East.

Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Baidu accused China of bias research in the complaint of monopoly

Biggest search engine in China, Baidu, is facing a potential antitrust investigation after the company was accused of blocking and degrading the search query results to a Chinese website online encyclopedia.

The company behind the website of Wikipedia as Hudong.com, said it has filed its complaint successfully with China's State administration for industry and Commerce (SAIC). The complaint requests SAIC to begin an investigation in anti-trust against Baidu and eventually the search giant 790 million yuan (120 million).

Hudong, however, does not know if or when it will begin an investigation of Baidu. SAIC can not be reached for comment.

Hudong began operations in 2005, a year before Baidu has launched its own online encyclopedia. Hudong said that his articles on popular topics are ranked low in the query results when searched on Baidu. Other search engines like Google and Microsoft Bing, rank, however, Hudong articles at the top.

"We are convinced that Baidu has used its dominant position to bully and block competitors," said Pan Haidong, CEO of Hudong.

A representative of Baidu said that the company did not want to comment on why the spokesperson was not available.

Baidu is the dominant search engine in the country, with a market share of 75.5% according to Beijing-based research firm Analysys International.

Baidu has faced similar accusations from Chinese websites alleging that the company has a deliberate distortion, said Mark Natkin, managing director of Beijing-based Marbridge Consulting. "None of the above allegations of this nature have had a significant impact on Baidu," he said.

In his defense, Baidu could always argue that the company uses a different search algorithm of a query result ranking over its competitors, Natkin added. "I don't think that will make a difference," said complaint of Hudong. "There has been no case in which (Baidu) lost millions of dollars or has had to significantly alter its business."

Baidu's dominance in the search market, however, has no doubt given advantages over small businesses Internet hoping to remain visible in the market, said Xu Dong, an analyst with Analysys International. "Small businesses want a level playing field, and this is very important to them," he said. "Believe that the Government should take measures to make more profitable the Internet market to them."

China mobile subscriber total rises to 853 million in the month of January (Reuters)

HONG KONG (Reuters) – China's largest mobile carrier, China Mobile, said that its total mobile subscribers rose to about 589.3 million euros in January, including 8.9 million subscribers to 3 G.

China Unicom, mobile subscribers Total No. 2 mobile carrier of the country, is increased by 169.7 million for the month, including $ 15.5 million subscribers to 3 G.

China Telecom has said that its total mobile subscribers rose to approximately 94.1 million in January, including 5.4 million subscribers to 3 G.

(Reporting by Christina Lo; (Editing by Gangadhar Daga)

China blocks Microblogs "Revolution Jasmine"

China has suspended searches for content on popular microblog, an apparent move to stifle the mention of a "revolution" Jasmine "that had to be staged on Sunday in Chinese cities.

In the afternoon of Sunday, Chinese search for the word "Jasmine" was blocked on a service similar to Twitter operated by Sina. But the evening appeared Sina, pause, search for all content on microblog, only allowing users to query the screen names, events, and other criteria. Another microblog operated by Tencent blocked also research relating to the word "Jasmine" or "Jasmine Revolution".

Mention of a "revolution" Jasmine "seems to have started on the Web, saying the Chinese to show users in 13 cities across the country, including the capital Beijing. The call for demonstrations seem to be inspired by anti-Government protests in Egypt and Tunisia, but it is unclear who or what group has begun. A site China Boxun.com reportedly was the first to post the call to protest.

China's Internet blockade extended to other social networking sites in the country. Renren.com, a service like Facebook popular, does not permit users to post using the words "Jasmine Revolution." These attempts have returned a message, "Please don't release politically sensitive content, salacious content, commercials or any other inappropriate content."

Together with censorship on the Internet, China responded to the call for protests reported retaining activists and increasing the number of police. As of Sunday night, it seemed that he had not materialized no real protest.

Censorship on microblogs China has become increasingly restrictive in recent weeks, as anti-Government protests broke out in Egypt last month. The microblog Sina searchesfor and others had blocked the word "Egypt".

Earlier this week, were stuck in Chinese search "Hillary" and "Hillary Clinton" Sina microblog. The move seemed to be in response to a speech that Clinton US Secretary of State gave call to Governments, like China to end censorship of the Internet.

China has the largest Internet population in the world to 457 million users. The country has 63 million users of microblog, according to the China Internet Network Information Center.

China Microblog search blocks for Hillary Clinton

A microblog top in China has blocked searches for Chinese words "Hillary Clinton" and "Hillary", just a day after the United States Secretary of State gave a speech urging Governments to end Internet censorship.

Sina microblog of China, a service similar to Twitter, seemed to be blocking the terms on Thursday morning. "In accordance with the relevant laws, regulations and policies, the results of your search did not show," said the answer on the microblogging site. In China, Government censors strength normally local Web sites to remove the politically sensitive content.

Clinton gave a speech earlier this week, saying that countries like China should address the economic and social costs in the long term that would lead to civil unrest if continued their Internet censorship.

The u.s. Embassy in Beijing has tried to start discussions about Chinese speech using microblogs. But it seems that the seats were taken quickly by Chinese Government censors.

The Embassy of which a declaration made by the United States ' Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, who said, "we are disappointed that some Chinese Web sites have decided to remove the discussion of the speech by Secretary Clinton's Internet freedom from their sites. It is ironic that the Chinese are blocking an online debate on freedom of the Internet ".

The Hillary-censor comes just weeks after Sina and other microblogs in China also began to censor searches for the word "China" Egypt "after anti-Government protests in Middle Eastern country.

China has been restrictive about news and information published on this politically sensitive, in order to prevent the same kind of unrest in the country, said Sir Phelim Kine, a researcher from Asia for New York-based Human Rights Watch.

"We are working diligently to ensure that new types of technology are castrated and controlled," Kine said. "The Chinese Government is keeping a tight lid game on the control and to maintain a facade of harmony, believing that this will be translated and continue that is long-term control".

China currently has the largest Internet population in the world, to 457 million users. But the country has invested in censoring the Web for politically sensitive content and sometimes even blocking entire sites. Facebook and Twitter were either blocked by the Chinese Government in 2009 after ethnic clashes broke out in western Xinjiang region of China. Sites are blocked.

In November, Sina reported that the microblogging service has got more than 50 million users. The user base is expected to reach 100 million users in the first half of 2011.

Sina did not respond immediately to requests for comment.

Lenovo Q3 profit rises on strong sales of PCS in China

Largest PC vendor Lenovo of China, reported strong growth in net profit in the third quarter, as it increased the market share in China and calibrate lively sales of laptops and Smartphones.

The Beijing-based company said its rose 22% to $ 5.8 billion in the three months ended 31 December, while net income rose 25 percent to $ 100 million in revenue.

Mobile computing has led the company, with revenue accounting laptop PC for $ 3.4 billion in total revenues in the quarter, up 15% year on year, Lenovo said in a statement.

Lenovo also saw gains in its smartphone business, which has become a new growth area for many PC vendors. Lenovo smartphone sales doubled in the third quarter compared to the previous three months, the company said in a statement.

The company credited stronger sales smartphone to its new Mobile Internet and Digital Home business group, which was formed during the quarter to focus on mobile devices, including tablets and smartphones, as well as devices for Cloud computing and smart TV.

"Looking ahead, we will be investing in building our global brand, driving product innovation and creating a business model-to-end even more effective ... we are confident that we can continue to outpace the market and provide strong results across our business," said Yang Yuanqing, CEO of Lenovo, in education.

Lenovo has also signed an important agreement with NEC in Japan last month. NEC is the largest PC vendor in Japan and the two companies will work under a joint venture to further increase the market share in the nation.

Lenovo, the deal, "says Lenovo as a leader in two out of three of the biggest PC markets worldwide," said in the statement.

Lenovo ThinkPad descents, enterprise upgrade cycle, China to the strong third quarter

Lenovo delivered the third strongest tax in China acquired shares the results of the quarter and rode the ThinkPad as updates of corporate PCs has continued.

The creator of PC delivered strong growth and maintained its global market share to 10.2%. Lenovo stored with market share of 12.7% in China. Meanwhile, Lenovo has continued to gain ground in emerging markets.

Lenovo's strategy is to protect its market share in China and in consolidated markets while aggressively pushing into emerging markets.

Here is a look at China's Lenovo.

And emerging markets.

The company reported fiscal third-quarter net income of $ 100 million, or 98 cents a share, on revenue of $ 5.8 billion, 22 percent a year ago. These results are in line with expectations. Yang Yuanqing, Lenovo CEO said the company was focused on building its global brand and face the market of mobile telephony. Yuanqing has also indicated that the corporate PC refresh cycle is expected to continue.

By the numbers:

Lenovo had $ 2.7 billion in the third quarter sales from China, 18 percent a year ago.Emerging markets accounted for $ 1.1 billion of sales, 34 percent a year ago.The United States accounted for $ 2 billion in the third quarter sales, 22 percent a year ago.Laptop accounted for 59 percent of the total sales of Lenovo Mobile Lenovo. had sales of $ 218 million. Lenovo added it past supply constraints for devices as LePhone.

Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and SmartPlanet as well as Editorial Director of ZDNet sister site TechRepublic.