WebProNews

A high level meeting of China's Communist government took place this week, during which time Reporters Without Borders said China redirected certain Internet traffic to Baidu. Attempts to reach Google Blog Search and YouTube from China have been unsuccessful since October 17, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) charged today.

The organization, which supports press freedom worldwide, said attempts to reach Google Blog Search go to Baidu, a native Chinese search engine, instead. YouTube cannot be reached at all, though RSF said another video sharing site, Dailymotion, can be accessed.

RSF has been a long-time critic of China's practices with regards to press freedom, and the cause of journalists imprisoned by the State. They blasted the blocking taking place:

"The blocking of these sites comes at a perfect time for the government. Blogs and video-sharing sites such as YouTube offer ways for Internet users to share situations they may have encountered during the congress. Preventing Chinese citizens from having access to them forces them to rely on the national media for their information."

RSF also noted that on October 15th, the front pages of all the national newspapers were virtually identical.

Meanwhile, top US technology companies like Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and Cisco continue to do business with the Chinese government, citing the usual refrain about complying with local laws. China's massively growing base of Internet users, second only to the US, has enticed these companies into the country.

They don't seem to have plans to leave at any particular time, either.