US State Department diplomats and staff won't be staying in the Waldorf Astoria New York - purchased last year by a Chinese insurance company - for the United Nations General Assembly in September.

Officials said Wednesday that the department would base its UN operations at the New York Palace Hotel on Madison Avenue at East 50th Street in Manhattan, instead of the famed Waldorf nearby at East 49th and Park Avenue.

The officials did not give a reason for the switch, which will affect hundreds of American diplomats and support staff who travel to the city for the General Assembly annually and hold meetings on two secured floors at the Waldorf.

However, officials pointed to Hilton Worldwide's sale of the hotel to Beijing-based Anbang Insurance Group for $1.95 billion in October, a deal that prompted security concerns of the US.

"It is always a privilege to host representatives of the US Department of State, and we hope to have the occasion to welcome them back to the Waldorf Astoria New York when the opportunity presents itself," a Waldorf Astoria New York spokesman said in an e-mail statement to China Daily.

Terms of the sale allow Hilton to run the hotel for the next 100 years but also call for "a major renovation" that officials say has gotten notice in Washington.

The US suspects China-linked hackers were behind a recent massive breach of federal personnel records that compromised the data of millions of government workers.

China rejected the accusations.

"Recently we have seen quite a lot of media reports or remarks of this kind. But are these reports or remarks scientific?" Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a June 5 press conference. "Cyber attacks are usually conducted anonymously and across borders, making it hard to trace back.

"It is not responsible nor scientific to always use terms such as 'likely' or 'suspected' instead of conducting thorough investigations," he said. "It is the consistent position of China to firmly combat all forms of cyber attacks.

"China itself is a victim of cyber attacks," Hong said. "We are ready to carry out international cooperation on this issue and build a cyber space that is peaceful, secure, open and cooperative."

Both the White House and the State Department declined comment on the hotel choice for the UN General Assembly.

At the time of the Waldorf sale, officials said it could have implications for the US government's long relationship with the hotel.

They said decisions about the relationship would be made on cost, Anbang's plans, the government's needs and security concerns with an eye on the renovation project.

The officials said the State Department's decision probably would affect the traveling operations of the White House, which also sends large numbers of officials to New York for the General Assembly, including the president, who has in the past stayed at the Waldorf, where there is a long-established presidential suite.

It was not immediately clear whether the Waldorf residence of the US ambassador to the United Nations would be moved to another location. The State Department has leased an apartment for the ambassador on the 42nd floor of the hotel's Waldorf Towers for more than 50 years.

US law allows the department to rent the ambassador's residence for a term of 10 years or less. The current lease expires this year with an option to renew for one or two years.

On April 27 at the Waldorf, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Ash Carter hosted the US-Japan Security Consultative Committee meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani in New York City, at which they discussed "security and defense issues relevant to the US-Japan alliance", according to the State Department website.