China Asks US And UK To Stop Politicizing Cyber Security Issues

Spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lin Jian (photo: dock. global times)

JAKARTA - On Tuesday, March 26, China urged the United States and Britain to stop politicizing cybersecurity issues. Beijing accused the two countries of slander and defamation of the Bamboo Curtain and imposing unilateral sanctions on the country.

"Murni is a political maneuver for the United States and Britain to repeat cyberattacks carried out by China and impose sanctions on Chinese individuals and entities," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a regular press conference.

"China is very dissatisfied with this and firmly oppose it," he said.

United States and British officials on Monday, March 25, filed charges, imposed sanctions, and accused Beijing of a broad cyber campaign suspected of attacking millions of people.

Authorities on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean refer to the hacking group as the Advanced Persistent Threat Group 31 or "APT31", calling it a tool from China's Ministry of State Security.

The Chinese embassy in London called the allegations "narly fabricated and slanderous slander."

"Previously, China had provided technical clarification and responses to APT31 information submitted by the UK. This clearly shows that the evidence provided by the UK is inadequate and the relevant conclusions are less professional," said Lin.

"Unfortunately, however, the British have not provided further responses since then," he added.

Britain also accused Chinese hackers of trying to break into the email accounts of British lawmakers critical of China.

Lin said China had made an official statement to all relevant parties, "and would take the necessary steps to safeguard legitimate rights and interests for China."

Several other countries have also accused China of hacking and cyberattacks, all of which have been denied by the country.

On Tuesday, the New Zealand government said it had raised concerns to the Chinese government about its involvement in the state-sponsored cyberattack on New Zealand parliament in 2021.

Earlier this year, the United States said it had launched an operation to counter China's disturbing hacking operations, which compromised thousands of devices connected to the internet.