China urges US to stop massive, indiscriminate wiretapping

BEIJING -- A Chinese spokesperson on Thursday urged the United States to stop its massive and indiscriminate wiretapping and "pay off the debt of justice it owes to the world."

"If the US allies find its spying behavior unacceptable, the world would only feel more strongly about it," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a news briefing, in response to recent criticism made by some European leaders and officials about the US National Security Agency wiretapping leaders of its allies.

Wang said the United States has long been globally recognized as the leading stealer of secrets.

He cited a number of means the United States applies in doing so, including simulating signals of base stations to tap into and steal data from cell phones, turning mobile apps into surveillance units, breaking into cloud servers, tapping into the undersea cables, and installing secretive signals intelligence collection facilities in nearly 100 US embassies and consulates worldwide for spying purpose.

"The recent media disclosure of the US spying on its European allies is just a tip of the iceberg of its huge global network for secret stealing," he said. "The United States owes the international community an explanation."

Wang said the United States has long recklessly conducted massive and indiscriminate wiretapping around the world, while wantonly suppressing law-abiding foreign companies under the pretext of national security.

"This fully exposes its hypocrisy and hegemonic nature," the spokesperson said.

He said people have every reason to suspect that the purpose of the US-initiated "clean network" program is to retain its monopoly in the high-tech field and serve as an excuse to justify its espionage activities.

The United States must immediately stop its illegal act of massive and indiscriminate eavesdropping, and stop the dirty business of suppressing other countries' enterprises under the guise of national security, Wang said.