Beijing warns Google over accusations

State media has accused US-based search engine and technology services company Google (GOOG.NASDAQ) of becoming a “political tool” by insinuating that Beijing was behind a series of hacking attacks against its users, the South China Morning Post reported. The warning appeared in the international edition of official Party newspaper the People’s Daily. Last week Google said it foiled attempts to steal hundreds of passwords from Google account holders, including US officials, Chinese human rights advocates and journalists. China’s Foreign Ministry denied the allegations, and the People’s Daily accused Google of “deliberately pandering to negative Western perceptions of China” and warned that “when the political winds shift direction, it may become sacrificed to politics and will be spurned by the marketplace.” Google has already lost market share in China to competitor Baidu (BIDU.NASDAQ) following its decision to cease censoring its search results and move its search engine to Hong Kong. The US government recently warned that it would consider future hacking attempts designed to threaten US security acts of war.