The Obama administration matched the Chinese government today in its determination to prevent the Google row from damaging bilateral ties.

In contrast to tough comments by the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, in January condemning internet censorship, the response of the White House and the state department to the latest row was about as muted as possible.

Relations between Washington and Beijing have been strained over the last few months, with Chinese protests over Barack Obama meeting the Dalai Lama at the White House and over US arms sales to Taiwan, and on the other side Congress near incandescent with rage over the Sino-US trade imbalance, blaming it on currency manipulation by Beijing. Now Google has been added to the list.

The Obama administration could have picked it up as an issue with which to beat China – the row offers a vivid example of the kind of internet censorship Clinton has been campaigning against.

But the White House opted instead to play down the row. Mike Hammer, Obama's National Security Council spokesman, expressed disappointment that Google and the Chinese government had been unable to reach a deal. He said the White House remained committed to internet freedom but did not see it damaging relations.

"The US-China relationship is mature enough to sustain differences, and while we seek to expand co-operation on issues of mutual interest with China, we will candidly and frankly address areas of disagreement," he said.

Google had worked closely with the Obama administration, which it informed in advance of its decision to switch its China operations to Hong Kong.

The Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Qin Gang, said yesterday that he did not see the Google row as having an impact on Sino-US ties "unless someone wants to politicise this". There was no such desire in Washingtontoday.

Douglas Paal, one of the leading China specialists in Washington, said: "Officials are trying to keep the relationship on an even keel and isolate confrontation."

He added that some in the US media had presented a narrative that Obama had offered China a hand of friendship last year and Beijing had rejected it. Paal said it was not a narrative that he recognised: "I do not see the relationship as having worsened in recent months."

guardian.co.uk