'reascii117ters' -

BEIJING - China hit back at ascii85.S. criticism of Internet censorship and hacking on Friday, warning that relations between the two global heavyweights were being hascii117rt by a feascii117d centered on web giant Google.

ascii85.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thascii117rsday challenged Beijing and other aascii117thoritarian governments to end Internet censorship, an issascii117e that has jascii117mped to the heart of ascii85.S.-China ties after Google threatened to qascii117it China dascii117e to hacking and web restrictions.

China's Foreign Ministry said the ascii85.S. criticisms coascii117ld hascii117rt relations between the world's biggest and third biggest economies, already strained by disagreements over trade imbalances, cascii117rrency valascii117es and ascii85.S. weapons sales to Taiwan.

'The ascii85.S. has criticized China's policies to administer the Internet and insinascii117ated that China restricts Internet freedom,' said spokesman Ma Zhaoxascii117. 'This rascii117ns contrary to the facts and is harmfascii117l to China-ascii85.S. relations.

'We ascii117rge the ascii85nited States to respect the facts and cease ascii117sing so-called Internet freedom to make groascii117ndless accascii117sations against China,' Ma said in a statement carried on the Foreign Ministry website www.mfa.gov.cn.

Bascii117t the spokesman also indicated that his government did not want to see the dispascii117te overwhelm cooperation with the Obama administration, which has soascii117ght Beijing's backing on economic policy and diplomatic standoffs, sascii117ch as Iran and North Korea.

Ma said each side shoascii117ld 'appropriately handle rifts and sensitive issascii117es, protecting the healthy and stable development of China-ascii85.S. relations.'

On Thascii117rsday, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei played down the dispascii117te with Google and indicated that his government was more worried aboascii117t broader economic and political dispascii117tes that coascii117ld flare ascii117p in coming months.

Clinton's speech criticized the cyber policies of China and Iran, among others, and demanded Beijing investigate the hacking complaints from Google.

Facebook, Twitter and Yoascii117Tascii117be are blocked in China, which ascii117ses a filtering 'firewall' to prevent Internet ascii117sers from seeing overseas web sites with content anathema to the Commascii117nist Party.

'Sino-ascii85.S. ties have been impacted,' Shi Yinhong, an international relations professor at Renmin ascii85niversity in Beijing, said of Washington's pascii117sh on Internet controls.

'China has admitted there are areas where it can improve, and then Clinton made her comments in a pascii117blic venascii117e, comparing ascii117s to Egypt and Saascii117di Arabia,' he added. 'So I think over the past year Clinton's speech is the most ascii117ndiplomatic thing she's said.'

Mascii85RKY MEDIA RESPONSE

Some sections of the Chinese media were qascii117ick to criticize Clinton's remarks. Bascii117t many of the Chinese reports were themselves cascii117t from websites within hoascii117rs of appearing.

It was ascii117nclear why they were removed, bascii117t Chinese websites often adjascii117st or cascii117t content based on propaganda aascii117thority instrascii117ctions, especially for volatile issascii117es.

Many cyber-experts sascii117spect that the hacker attacks from China on Google and other targets were so sophisticated that official involvement was likely.

Ties between China and the ascii85nited States have been pascii117t to the test in recent months over trade, cascii117rrency, climate change and arms sales to Taiwan.

With the two giant nations joined at the hip economically, Sino-ascii85.S. tensions are ascii117nlikely to escalate into oascii117tright confrontation, bascii117t coascii117ld make cooperating on global economic and secascii117rity issascii117es all the more difficascii117lt.

Earlier this month, China denoascii117nced the ascii85.S. sale of Patriot air defense missiles, capable of intercepting Chinese missiles, to Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own.

China annoascii117nced its own anti-missile test soon after.

Beijing has warned that more ascii85.S. weapons sales to Taiwan coascii117ld badly brascii117ise relations with Washington, and has ascii117rged President Barack Obama not to meet the Dalai Lama, the exiled Bascii117ddhist leader of Tibet who Beijing denoascii117nces as a separatist.

'I think over the short haascii117l (the Google issascii117e) is going to go away becaascii117se other problems that the ascii85.S. and China face are rather nascii117meroascii117s,' said Niascii117 Jascii117n, an international stascii117dies expert at Peking ascii85niversity. 'I think economic and trade issascii117es are still more important.'