JAKARTA - Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte revealed that he had discussed incidents of cyber espionage alleged by the Netherlands against China during talks with President Xi Jinping on Wednesday, March 27.
Chinese-backed cybermata managed to access the Dutch military network last year, MIVD intelligence agency MIVD said last month. They, calling it part of China's political espionage trend against the Netherlands and its allies.
This is the first time the Dutch have publicly blamed cyber espionage on China, as national security tensions grew between the two countries. They were also in confrontation over export restrictions on high-tech semiconductor equipment created by Dutch giant ASML to China.
Beijing routinely denies allegations of cyber espionage and says it opposes all forms of cyberattacks.
US and British officials on Monday, March 25, also filed charges, imposed sanctions, and accused Beijing of a broad cyber espionage campaign suspected of attacking millions of people including lawmakers, academics, and journalists, as well as companies including defense contractors.
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"Of course we discussed all the difficult topics, including cyberattacks," Rutte told reporters after talks in Beijing.
"Of course this has been publicly appointed to China by the Netherlands. This is an attack on the Dutch Ministry of Defense that we identified and also shown to China. So yes, of course, I discussed it," he added.
Tensions between Beijing and Western powers over cyber-espionage-related issues have escalated as Western intelligence agencies have increasingly warned of hacking activity supported by the Chinese government. China has also started in recent years to denounce Western hacking operations.
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