China called on the United States and North Korea on Tuesday to talk to each other about the hacking of Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. that Washington has blamed on Pyongyang, while sidestepping questions about whether Beijing would cooperate with the U.S. over the North's alleged cyber attack.

   China's foreign ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, also strongly denied media reports that China was involved in the Internet outage in North Korea, slamming such reports as "not trustworthy" and "irresponsible."

   The U.S. has asked China to help prevent cyber threats from North Korea in the wake of last month's cyber attack on Sony, which produced a comedy about a plot to assassinate the North's leader, Kim Jong-un. Although the North denies it was behind the Sony hacking, Pyongyang described the cyber attack as a "righteous deed."

   U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed the issue of the Sony hacking by telephone on Sunday, but a statement by the Chinese ministry about the telephone conversation stopped short of mentioning North Korea.

   "We have noted the relevant remarks made by the U.S. and the DPRK (North Korea) over recent days," Hua replied during a regular press briefing, when asked whether China has responded to calls by the U.S. over the Sony hacking.

   "We believe that the DPRK and the U.S. can have communication on that," Hua said, without elaborating further.

   North Korea's Internet connections were completely down for hours early on Tuesday morning but were restored before midday, according to Dyn Research, a U.S.-based company monitoring global computer networks.

   The reclusive North's only Internet connection to the outside world is believed to be linked with China and some media reports said China might have been involved in the North's Internet outage.

   Asked about the reports that China might have been involved, Hua replied, "I have noted that there are reports saying maybe China got involved."

   "I think that these kinds of reports were based on speculation. They are not trustworthy. These kinds of reports were irresponsible, unprofessional and misleading," Hua said.

   North Korea has a track record of launching cyber attacks on financial institutions and media organizations in South Korea.

   China, North Korea's last-remaining patron, appears to have made a noncommittal response to the U.S. calls, apparently in consideration of its ties with Pyongyang.

   U.S. President Barack Obama has said Washington is considering re-listing North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism for the alleged cyber attack on Sony. (Yonhap)