Google hacking claims may hurt its business, Chinese paper warns

GOOGLE has become a “political tool” vilifying the Chinese government, an official Beijing newspaper said yesterday, warning that the US internet giant’s statements about hacking attacks traced to China could hurt its business.

The tough warning appeared in the overseas edition of the People’s Daily, the leading newspaper of China’s ruling Communist Party, indicating that political tensions between the US and China over internet security could linger.

Last week, Google said it had broken up an effort to steal the passwords of hundreds of Google email account holders, including US government officials, Chinese human rights advocates and journalists. It said the attacks appeared to come from China.