Google’s services unable to reach much of China

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Google says its search engine and other Internet services have been cut off from much of China just as the country’s ruling party picks new leaders.

Data posted on Google’s website shows its services in China became largely inaccessible beginning around 1 a.m. PST Friday. That would be about 5 p.m. Friday in Beijing.

A Google Inc. spokeswoman says the company found no problems in its own computer or network that would disrupt its services in China.

That raised the possibility that China’s Communist Party decided to block Google’s services at a politically sensitive time.

Google’s search engines, email and other services have been periodically unavailable in China since 2010. That’s when Google decided to stop censoring its search results to remove websites that China’s government found objectionable.