Google will be out of China completely, quicker than my local Chinese restaurant can prepare food.

Google Inc closed its China-based search service and began redirecting Web searchers to an uncensored portal in Hong Kong, drawing harsh comments from Beijing that raised doubts about the company’s future in the world’s largest Internet market.

Google said it intends to continue research and development in China, as well as maintain a sales staff there, even after closing Google.cn and rerouting traffic to the unfiltered search site in Hong Kong.

The decision comes amid heightened tensions between Beijing and Washington over a range of issues, from Internet freedom to the yuan exchange rate, economic sanctions on Iran and U.S. weapons sales to Taiwan.

China reacted to Google’s move by saying the Internet search giant was “totally wrong” and had “violated the written promise it made on entering the Chinese market,” signaling a tough line over the dispute.

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