BEIJING/San Francisco (Reuters) - Suspected Chinese hackers tried to steal the passwords of hundreds of Google email account holders, including those of senior US government officials, Chinese activists and journalists, the Internet company said. The claim by the worlds largest Web search engine sparked an angry response from Beijing, which said blaming China was unacceptable, pointing to further tensions in an already strained relationship with Google. The perpetrators appeared to originate from Jinan, the capital of Chinas eastern Shandong province, Google said. Jinan is home to one of six technical reconnaissance bureaus belonging to the Peoples Liberation Army and a technical college US investigators last year linked to a previous attack on Google. Washington said it was investigating Googles claims while the FBI said it was working with Google following the attacks the latest computer-based invasions directed at multinational companies that have raised global alarm about Internet security.