China has issued a “strong” rebuke to the United States on Tuesday following accusations from Washington, Britain, and New Zealand that Beijing was behind a series of cyber hacks targeting lawmakers and democratic institutions.
In response to the accusations, China emphasized its opposition to all forms of cyberattacks and accused the US of disseminating false information about threats from Chinese hackers through the Five Eyes spying alliance.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian stated that China firmly opposes such accusations and has made strong demarches with the United States and relevant parties, warning that China will take necessary measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.
The accusations from Washington detailed a 14-year “prolific global hacking operation” aimed at aiding China’s economic espionage and foreign intelligence objectives. The campaign allegedly involved more than 10,000 emails targeting businesses, politicians, candidates for elected office, and journalists, with a unit dubbed APT31 identified as the perpetrator.
Britain also disclosed that the same APT31 group had targeted UK lawmakers’ accounts and potentially compromised the country’s Electoral Commission. Meanwhile, New Zealand attributed the cyberattack on its Parliamentary Counsel Office to the Chinese “state-sponsored group” APT40.
Western nations have become increasingly willing to expose malicious cyber operations and point fingers at foreign governments, notably China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran. China, in turn, has accused the US of its own campaign of cyber-espionage.
The accusations and counter-accusations underscore the heightened tensions in cyberspace and the challenges of attribution in the face of sophisticated cyber operations conducted by state-sponsored groups.