Obama wants 'answers' from China over Google cyber attacks

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE: US President Barack Obama is "troubled" by cyberattacks on Google and wants China to provide "answers" to charges of security breaches, his spokesman said today.

The comment came a day after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged China to conduct a thorough probe into cyberattacks on Google and other US companies, and lamented what she said was Beijing's increasing efforts to control what its 384 million web users can see.

"As the president has said, he continues to be troubled by the cybersecurity breach that Google attributes to China," White House deputy spokesman Bill Burton told reporters aboard Air Force One traveling to Ohio.

"As Secretary Clinton said yesterday, all we are looking for from China are some answers," Burton said.

China has rejected the Internet censorship criticism by Clinton, saying it harmed relations.

"We firmly oppose such words and deeds, which go against the facts and are harmful to China-US relations," foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said on Friday, in China's strongest comments since the Google dispute erupted last week.