The future of Google’s beleaguered China operations is up in the air after the company lost two key executives in the past month. From Business Week:
Song Zhongjie quit as head of China sales at Google this month, Marsha Wang, a Beijing-based company spokeswoman, said in an e-mail today. Wang didn’t comment on a Yicai.com report that Song will join a Chinese Web site called Aibang.
Song joins Wang Jin, the former engineering director who defected to Baidu Inc., in leaving a month after Google moved its service to Hong Kong in defiance of Chinese censorship laws. Google advertisers including Zenith Optimedia’s China Chief Executive Officer Steven Chang have said they’re considering switching to rival Web sites.
“More Google employees may leave, as operations there are still very unsettled following the shift last month,” said Li Zhi, an analyst at research firm Analysys International. Other Chinese Internet operators will be interested in recruiting Google’s employees, making it more difficult for the U.S. company to retain workers, she said.
In other Google news, the company has released statistics about government requests for information it has received in various countries. Statistics for China are excluded.
