China says Google spreading illegal vulgar content

China's Foreign Ministry on Thursday accused Google's English language search engine of spreading vulgar content that violated the nation's law.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang did not directly answer a question about whether government action was responsible for recent disruptions in access to Google sites from within China.

But he made plain the government's anger at the U.S. company.

"According to complaints from many residents, Google's English language search engine has spread large amounts of vulgar content that is lascivious and pornographic, seriously violating China's relevant laws and regulations," he told a regularly scheduled news conference.

Qin said various measures taken against Google were in keeping with the law, but did not detail what the measures were or directly comment Wednesday evening disruptions to Google services in China.

"I want to stress that Google China is a company operating within China to provide Internet search services, and it should strictly abide by Chinese laws and regulations."

Google said last week it had met with Chinese government officials to discuss the problem of "pornographic content and material that is harmful to children on the web in China."