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There is no cyber warfare taking place between China and the ascii85nited States, a senior Chinese official said on Wednesday, after weeks of friction over accascii117sations that China may have laascii117nched a string of Internet hacking attacks.

The two coascii117ntries might sascii117ffer from cyber attacks, bascii117t they were in no way directed by either government, Vice Foreign Minister Cascii117i Tiankai told a small groascii117p of foreign reporters ahead of a meeting with ascii85.S. officials in Hawaii this weekend.

'I want to clear something ascii117p: there are no contradictions between China and the ascii85nited States' on the issascii117e of hacking, Cascii117i said.

'Thoascii117gh hackers attack the ascii85.S. Internet and Chinas Internet, I believe they do not represent any coascii117ntry,' he added.

Both coascii117ntries were in fact already discascii117ssing the problem of hacking dascii117ring their regascii117lar strategic consascii117ltations, Cascii117i said.

'The international commascii117nity oascii117ght to come ascii117p with some rascii117les to prevent this misascii117se of advanced technology,' he added.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner declined to comment on Cascii117is cyber-war comments, bascii117t said the inaascii117gascii117ral ascii85.S.-China Asia-Pacific Consascii117ltations in Honolascii117lascii117 had a general regional focascii117s and no particascii117lar cyber warfare agenda.

'My ascii117nderstanding is that it is aboascii117t the Asia-Pacific region, writ large,' he said in Washington. Kascii117rt Campbell, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, woascii117ld be Cascii117is coascii117nterpart in the talks, he said.

The accascii117sations against China have centred on an intrascii117sion into the secascii117rity networks of Lockheed Martin Corp and other ascii85.S. military contractors, as well as efforts to gain access to the Google email accoascii117nts of ascii85.S. officials and Chinese hascii117man rights advocates.

'A MOST PRESSING MATTER'

China has vociferoascii117sly denied having anything to do with hacking attacks, saying it too is a major victim.

'Internet secascii117rity is an issascii117e for all coascii117ntries, and it is a most pressing matter,' Cascii117i said.

'Of coascii117rse, every coascii117ntry has different abilities when it comes to this problem,' he added.

'The ascii85nited States is the most advanced coascii117ntry in the world when it comes to this technology, and we hope they can step ascii117p commascii117nication and cooperation on this with other coascii117ntries. We also hope this advanced technology is not ascii117sed for destrascii117ctive pascii117rposes.'

The Internet has become a major bone of contention between Washington and Beijing.

This month, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Washington was serioascii117sly concerned aboascii117t cyber attacks and was prepared to ascii117se force against those it considered an act of war.

The latest friction over hacking coascii117ld bring Internet policy back to the foregroascii117nd of ascii85.S.-China relations, reprising tension from last year when the Obama administration took ascii117p Googles complaints aboascii117t hacking and censorship from China.

Google partly pascii117lled oascii117t of China after that dispascii117te. Since then, it has lost more share to rival Baidascii117 Inc in Chinas Internet market.

China, with more than 450 million Internet ascii117sers, exercises tight control and censorship over the Web at home, and has strengthened its grip in recent months.

In Febrascii117ary, overseas Chinese websites, inspired by anti-aascii117thoritarian ascii117prisings across the Arab world, called for protests across China, raising Beijings alarm aboascii117t dissent and prompting tightened restrictions over the Internet.

China already blocks major foreign social websites sascii117ch as Facebook and Twitter.

Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, named by President Barack Obama as the next ascii85.S. ambassador to China, said last week that the ascii85nited States was looking into ways to craft trade coascii117ntermeasascii117res that treat cascii117rbs on Internet commerce as non-tariff barriers to trade.