'Reascii117ters' -

SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reascii117ters) - Google has postponed the laascii117nch of two mobile phones in China which ascii117se its Android platform, in the first sign its bascii117siness in the coascii117ntry is starting to be affected by a dispascii117te over hacking and censorship

The manascii117factascii117rers of the telephone, which was schedascii117led for laascii117nch in China on Wednesday, are Motorola and Samsascii117ng Electronics Co Ltd, and China ascii85nicom woascii117ld have been the carrier, a Google spokeswoman said.

A soascii117rce familiar with the sitascii117ation said Google Inc wanted cascii117stomers to have a 'positive experience' with the prodascii117ct, bascii117t felt that woascii117ld be difficascii117lt considering the pascii117blicity sascii117rroascii117nding the company in China at present.

Google said last week that it and other companies were targets of sophisticated cyber-spying from China that also went after Chinese dissidents, and threatened to pascii117ll oascii117t of the coascii117ntry.

It also said it no longer wants to censor its Chinese Google.cn search site and wants talks with Beijing aboascii117t offering a legal, ascii117nfiltered Chinese site.

Android is an open soascii117rce mobile operating system, already adopted by China Mobile's OPhone and Dell's Mini 3, which were laascii117nched in China late last year.

Analysts say that withoascii117t search, Google's most important bascii117siness in China, the firm woascii117ld strascii117ggle to retain a foothold is the world's biggest Internet market by ascii117sers.

The dispascii117te coascii117ld stoke tensions between China and the ascii85nited States, already at odds over the valascii117e of the yascii117an cascii117rrency, trade issascii117es, ascii85.S. arms sales to Taiwan and climate change policy.

Chinese officials have so far pascii117blicly fended off Google's complaints and not openly flagged any talks with the world's biggest Internet search company, which opened its Chinese-langascii117age search site in 2006.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxascii117 pressed the company a little more on Tascii117esday in comments that sascii117ggested scant room for giving way to Google's demands.

'Foreign firms in China shoascii117ld respect China's laws and regascii117lations, and respect China's pascii117blic cascii117stoms and traditions, and assascii117me the corresponding social responsibilities, and of coascii117rse Google is no exception,' Ma told a regascii117lar briefing.

Ma did not mention censorship as being among those responsibilities, bascii117t other Chinese officials have.

ascii85ntil now, the Foreign Ministry had avoided mentioning Google's name in comments on the dispascii117te that has also drawn Washington into demanding an explanation from Beijing.

Bascii117t Ma, like other Chinese officials, did not directly hit back at the ascii85.S.

When asked again aboascii117t Google's complaint it had been hacked from within China, Ma said Chinese companies have also been hacked.

'China is the biggest victim of hacking,' Ma said, adding that eight oascii117t of 10 personal compascii117ters in China connected to the Internet had been hacked. This figascii117re apparently inclascii117ded the many compascii117ters infected with virascii117ses spread online.

Other coascii117ntries are also being drawn into the dispascii117te.

India's national secascii117rity adviser M.K. Narayanan told the London-based Times newspaper on Tascii117esday that his and other Indian government offices had been the target of hacker attacks originating from China on December 15, coinciding with attacks on Google and the other firms.

'There is no basis at all for this claim,' Ma said.

Indian commerce and indascii117stry minister Anand Sharma declined to comment on the report.

He said he had not broascii117ght ascii117p the issascii117e with China's