Chinese Redcore browser built on Google Chrome, CEO admits

Google may be under fire again for allegedly working with the Chinese government to create a censored version of its Search engine but it doesn't actually have to lift a finger for its technology to be used for that same purpose. A new web browser named Redcore has grabbed the spotlight in China for claiming to have developed a browser that has "broken the American monopoly". Except that now its CEO is admitting that it did, after all, build it using Chrome, an American company technology.

It's no surprise that Redcore would garner that much attention. Its stated goal is to protect its corporate customers when using cloud services through encryption and the like. Given such customers include the Chinese government, among others, you can probably connect the dots on what that might imply. Redcore has become so popular that it has boasted raising 250 million RMB ($36 million) in funding just recently.

It's success, however, is ironically built on the very monopoly Redcore claims to have broken. That claim was challenged when users posted evidence revealing that the company has, in fact, used Google Chrome software to build its popular browser. Netizens naturally called the company out for ripping off Google.

The South China Morning Post reports that founder and CEO Chen Benfeng later went on to admit that it was wrong to have made a claim and that Redcore was indeed built on Chrome. Having to start from scratch to develop a browser to compete with the likes of Chrome would take years, he adds. At the same time, he explains that it doesn't make Redcore's innovation any less significant, just as how Google built Android on top of Linux.

Redcore most likely used the open source Chromium browser on which the proprietary version of Chrome is based on. That means they're not exactly doing anything illegal, since many alternative browsers do use that same source code. Unless they're failing to comply with licenses and copyrights, which is a different matter altogether. But more than legal concerns, this incident raises questions on the true extent of China's boasted technological prowess, which comes at a time when it is engaged in a trade spat with the US.