Microsoft: “Don’t Be Evil” Is Google’s Motto, Not Ours

Microsoft sees no need for a “new approach to China,” though rival Google has adopted one that has generated quite a response. In an interview with CNBC today, CEO Steve Ballmer said his company has no plans to cease operations in China or take a moral stand on the Chinese government’s attitude toward free speech. Said Ballmer: “We’ve been quite clear that we are going to operate in China [and] we’re going to abide by the law.”

Asked earlier in the day by Reuters if Microsoft (MSFT) had plans to pull its business out of China, Ballmer answered, “No….I don’t understand how that helps anything. I don’t understand how that helps us and I don’t understand how that helps China.”

Of course, Microsoft has quite a bit more at stake in China than Google (GOOG)–all those pirated copies of Windows, for example.