To get around Web censorship in China, Google has found a hack -- by redirecting users to its search engine in Hong Kong.

"Users visiting Google.cn are now being redirected to Google.com.hk, where we are offering uncensored search in simplified Chinese, specifically designed for users in mainland China and delivered via our servers in Hong Kong," David Drummond, Google's chief legal officer, wrote in a company blog.

Google has been complaining about Web censorship since its servers were the target of a large cyber attack in January.

The company says it's possible that China could shut down the redirect. "We very much hope that the Chinese government respects our decision, though we are well aware that it could at any time block access to our services," Drummond wrote.

Microsoft, meanwhile, said it will continue to do business in China, while also advocating for "free expression, transparency and the rule of law." Here is more of the Microsoft statement to the People of the Internet:

“...We also regularly communicate with governments, including the Chinese, to advocate for free expression, transparency, and the rule of law. We will continue to do so. We believe engagement in global markets is important, as an open and healthy Internet involves not only access to information, but access to network connectivity, computing power, innovative and easy-to-use software applications, and the basic IT skills needed to leverage these capabilities. ..."

Last year, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof called on his readers to boycott Microsoft's search engine Bing for censoring search results in China for politically sensitive topics such as Tiananmen Square protests. Here is our earlier story on the boycott.

Here is the Google blog announcement about the changes.

Sharon Pian Chan: 206-464-2958 or schan@seattletimes.com or follow me on Twitter at @sharonpianchan.