Beijing ? The Chinese government denied involvement in Internet attacks and defended its online censorship today after the United States urged Beijing to investigate complaints of cyber intrusions in a dispute that has added tension to bilateral relations.

China’s policy against Internet hacking attacks is transparent and consistent, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said, nearly two weeks after search giant Google Inc. threatened to pull out of the country after finding that the e-mails of activists had been pried into.

The State Council, China’s Cabinet, defended the country’s regulation of the Internet, saying it is legal and that other parties should not interfere in Beijing’s domestic affairs, Xinhua reported.

The remarks follow a Jan. 12 threat from Google to pull out of China unless the government relented on censorship. The ultimatum came after Google said it had uncovered a computer attack that tried to plunder its software coding and the e-mail accounts of human rights activists protesting Chinese policies.