Google is acting like a “political tool” of the US government and could face serious business consequences for its latest allegations that operatives in China tried to steal email passwords, the Chinese government’s main party mouthpiece newspaper warned on Monday.

In a front-page commentary on its overseas edition, the People’s Daily newspaper said Google had “slandered” China with allegations that hackers in China had tried to access Gmail accounts of US government officials, activists and foreign journalists. Google’s revelations last week triggered harsh denials from China, and this latest editorial takes the spat further. The US government has announced the FBI will investigate the charges.