Google stopped censoring search results the Chinese version of its search engine returns on Monday, redirecting traffic on Google.cn to Google.com.hk, hosted in a data center in Hong Kong. Unlike mainland Google users, users in Hong Kong have had access to uncensored Google search, news and image pages in simplified Chinese, pages that are now also available to users in the mainland.

The Silicon Valley-based company's decision came after the Chinese government rejected its efforts to offer uncensored search in the country legally. In January, Google said it would either find a legal way to provide unfiltered service in China or seize all operations in the country. The ultimatum came after the company said it had found evidence of high-profile cyber attacks on its infrastructure that had originated in China. Google was one of about 20 companies the attackers had targeted.

Those developments, in combination with the government's alleged attempts to further censor content on the Internet accessible to Chinese users, "including the persistent blocking of Web sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google Docs and Blogger" lead the company to decide to stop censorship on Google.cn, Google SVP of Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer David Drummond wrote in a post on the official Google blog.

"...the Chinese government has been crystal clear throughout our discussions that self-censorship is a non-negotiable legal requirement," Drummond wrote. "We believe this new approach of providing uncensored search in simplified Chinese from Google.com.hk is a sensible solution to the challenges we've faced-it's entirely legal and will meaningfully increase access to information for people in China."

As Google switches its infrastructure to reroute all Chinese traffic to Hong Kong, it warned about potential slowing of some services for Hong Kong users and about potential unavailability of some others.

The company acknowledged that the Chinese government could block access to its services at any time and created a new Web page where it will post updates on the availability of services in China.