Google has launched a new Chinese language version of YouTube for the Taiwanese market, YouTube.com.tw
YouTube this week launched a Chinese language site for Hong Kong, and has recently launched locally targeted versions of the site in Brazil, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the U.K.
The Associated Press reports, YouTube has partnered with four Taiwanese media partners for the launch : China Television Co., Sanlih E-Television Co., Lion Travel Service Co. and Taiwan Broadcasting System.
There have been reports of China NetCom, one of the primary ISP’s of China, redirecting Chinese search traffic to Baidu, a domestically owned search engine; and some theories as to why.
My guess is that while Google and other companies are surrounding China with Chinese language versions of their search and media offerings for Taiwan and Hong Kong, [Mainand] China is making sure that their internal search users are not exposed to Anti-PRC messages from Taiwan or content from the more liberal Hong Kong.
