A hacking initiative that tricked prominent users of Google's email system into giving up their passwords, originated in China, the web search giant alleged Wednesday, dpa reported.
The allegation is likely to deepen the already serious rift between the powerful US internet company and the Chinese government.
In a blog posting, Google said that a so-called phishing attack against Gmail users appeared to have originated in Jinan, China.
The attack targeted the personal Gmail accounts of "senior US government officials, Chinese political activists, officials in several Asian countries (predominantly South Korea), military personnel and journalists," said Google.
Google said the goal of the operation appeared to be the monitoring of the subjects' emails and that it had notified the victims and the relevant government authorities.
Wednesday's allegations came after Google alleged in January 2010 that is had been the target of a sophisticated cyber-attack originating in China, which also targeted more than 30 other prominent companies.
In response, Google said that it would stop abiding by Chinese censorship requests that it had honoured since opening a China-based search site in 2006.