AsiaPundit welcomed Congressional hearings on internet censorship in China. While AP does not favor regulation, he hoped that the companies would be more open with Congress than they have with the press and the public.

Unfortunately, that will not be the case.

Microsoft and Cisco Systems have said they will not be attending. Now, Google is also refusing the invitation.

Google Inc. has declined to appear before the Congressional Human Rights Caucus on Wednesday to answer questions about its business in China, including the company’s recent decision to censor search results that the Beijing government considers subversive.

The Mountain View search-engine company declined the request to send a speaker to the briefing, which will probe the pressures China puts on U.S. Internet companies that operate there, according to Ryan Keating, a spokesman for Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, who plans to chair the meeting.

A spokeswoman for Google did not return a telephone call seeking comment.

By skipping the briefing, Google is avoiding what will probably be a very public cacophony of complaints. Several members of Congress, as well as human rights groups, have excoriated Google and other companies for limiting freedom of expression in China by blocking Web sites that discuss the Tiananmen Square massacres and Falun Gong spiritual movement, among other things.

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