DM Monitoring
Beijing: China on Tuesday denied allegations made by the U.S. and its Western allies that Beijing hacked the Microsoft Exchange email system. It then turned the tables on the U.S. and accused it of carrying out damaging cyberattacks on Chinese entities.
A foreign ministry spokesperson demanded Washington drop charges announced Monday against four Chinese nationals accused of working with the Ministry of State Security to try to steal U.S. trade secrets, technology and disease research.
The announcement that the Biden administration and European allies formally blame Chinese government-linked hackers for ransomware attacks increased pressure over long-running complaints against Beijing but included no sanctions.
“The United States ganged up with its allies to make unwarranted accusations against Chinese cybersecurity,” said the spokesperson, Zhao Lijian. “This was made up out of thin air and confused right and wrong. It is purely a smear and suppression with political motives.”
“China will never accept this,” Zhao said, though he gave no indication of possible retaliation. China is a leader in cyberwarfare research along with US and Russia, but Beijing denies accusations that Chinese hackers steal trade secrets and technology.
