China defends censorship after Google threat

China defended its extensive censorship and brushed aside hacking claims on Thursday, telling companies not to buck state control of the Internet after Google threatened to quit the country.

The Google dispute could stoke tensions between China and the United States, already at odds over the value of the yuan currency, trade quarrels, U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and climate change policy. It threw a spotlight on hacking and the Internet controls that Google says have stifled its business in China. Google's challenge to Beijing came as foreign businesses have voiced growing frustration at China's business climate, even as Chinese economic growth outpaces the rest of the world.

The Google situation is generating an outpouring of nationalist fervor from the country's online community, with some cheering it as a victory for the Chinese.