China calls hacking allegations by US, UK 'political maneuvering'

[March 26, 2024] BEIJING (Reuters) -China on Tuesday urged the U.S. and Britain to stop politicizing the issue of cybersecurity, slandering and smearing China and imposing unilateral sanctions on the country.  

A man holds a laptop computer as cyber code is projected on him in this illustration picture taken on May 13, 2017. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration/File Photo

"It is pure political maneuvering for the United States and the United Kingdom to rehash the so-called cyberattacks carried out by China and to sanction Chinese individuals and entities," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a regular press briefing.

"China is strongly dissatisfied with this and firmly opposes it," he said.

U.S. and British officials on Monday filed charges, imposed sanctions, and accused Beijing of a sweeping cyberespionage campaign that allegedly hit millions of people.

Authorities on both sides of the Atlantic nicknamed the hacking group Advanced Persistent Threat Group 31 or "APT31", calling it an arm of China's Ministry of State Security.

The Chinese Embassy in London called the charges "completely fabricated and malicious slanders."

"Previously, China had made technical clarifications and responses to the so-called APT31 information submitted by the British side. It clearly shows that the evidence provided by the British side is insufficient and the relevant conclusions lack professionalism," said Lin.

"Regrettably, however, the British side has not responded further since then," he added.

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

Lin said China has made solemn representations to all relevant parties, "and will take necessary measures to safeguard China's legitimate rights and interests."

Several other countries have also lobbed hacking and cyberattack allegations against China, all of which the country has denied.

On Tuesday, the New Zealand government said it had raised concerns with the Chinese government about its involvement in a state-sponsored cyber hack on New Zealand's parliament in 2021.

And earlier this year, the United States said it launched an operation to fight a pervasive Chinese hacking operation that compromised thousands of internet-connected devices.

(Reporting by Yew Lun Tian; Writing by Bernard Orr; Editing by Sonali Paul)

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