WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama is drawing a distinction between China's alleged intellectual property theft and what he calls "standard fare" spying on other countries.

Obama says every country engages in intelligence gathering, which he called an occasional source of tension. But the president says there's a big difference between China trying to find out what he's saying in meetings with the Japanese and a hacker connected with the Chinese government breaking into Apple or other U.S. companies.

Obama pressed China's president on cyberhacking last week during a meeting in California. Obama said their conversations on the topic were "very blunt."

Obama spoke in an interview with PBS' Charlie Rose.