Google CEO sees China talks outcome soon

ABU DHABI, March 10 (Reuters) - Google (GOOG.O) expects an outcome soon from its talks with China over a censorship and hacking dispute, and its negotiations are independent of the U.S. government, Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said on Wednesday

Google threatened in January to shut its Chinese Google.cn portal and to pull back from China, citing problems of censorship and a hacking attack from within the country.

"I'm going to use the word 'soon', which i will not define otherwise," Schmidt told journalists at the Abu Dhabi Media Summit. "There is no specific timetable. Something will happen soon," he added, without elaborating.

Schmidt said any possible appeal by the U.S. government to the World Trade Organisation to challenge Chinese Internet restrictions would not affect Google's actions.

The top U.S. trade official said on Tuesday the government was studying whether it could legally challenge those restrictions, which also hurt other U.S. firms operating in China. [ID:nN09251360]

Schmidt said: "Google's discussions are with the Chinese government and are not related to the U.S. government. The U.S. government is doing its thing, unrelated to Google." (Reporting by Georgina Prodhan)