China Issued a Public Ultimatum to Microsoft

China Issued a Public Ultimatum to Microsoft

Boy, when Chinese anti-monopoly regulators set their sights on someone, they really don't let go. I'm sure Microsoft officials would agree with this statement, especially since China gave the IT giant a public ultimatum which offers the company three weeks to explain its business practices in regards to a couple of its main products: Windows and Office.

According to a report from Reuters, Chinese officials from the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) have interviewed Microsoft China's vice president, David Chen. Since (apparently) he wasn't fully cooperating, they decided to give the Redmond-based company 20 days to give a written answer to all their questions. Microsoft isn't the only foreign company to come under scrutiny of Chinese officials. Recently, a long list of over 30 other names have had their fair share of problems with the Beijing government.

The entire scandal began in July, when a series of events took place, including a state-wide ban on using Windows 8 on government-related computers which culminated in a raid of the antitrust officials on the Microsoft offices from four major Chinese cities. Many imply that the reason behind these government actions is the IT giant's decision to stop offering support for Windows XP (which is probably the most popular OS in China). Furthermore, another possible contributing factor may be the fact that the Chinese have decided to create their own, national operating system.

In an official statement, Microsoft reiterated their interest in abiding by the Chinese laws and their commitment to answering all the questions and concerns of the SAIC regulators. Microsoft's CEO, Sataya Nadella, is scheduled to visit China later this month.