China opposes hacking allegations

BEIJING - A Foreign Ministry spokesman on Tuesday said allegations of Chinese hacker attacks are groundless, reiterating the government's position on fighting cybercrime.

Spokesman Hong Lei made the remark at a regular press briefing when asked to comment on a report by US security company Mandiant stating that the company had traced cyber attacks waged against US companies and government agencies to a unit of the People's Liberation Army (PLA).

Hong said cybercrime is an international problem and should be solved through international cooperation on the basis of mutual trust and respect.

"Groundless criticism is irresponsible and unprofessional, and it will not help to solve the problem," he said.

China has been a major victim of cyber attacks and opposes all forms of such activity, Hong said, adding that China has made and enforced laws that ban such activity.

He cited a report released by China's National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team Coordination Center stating that 73,000 foreign IP addresses had been linked to attacks on 14 million Chinese computers.

He pointed out that the number of attacks originating from the United States ranked at the top.

Hong said China, Russia and several other countries submitted an international code of conduct on information security to the United Nations in 2011.

"China has called on the international community to make a code of conduct for cyberspace on the basis of the submission and make joint efforts to build a peaceful, secure, open and cooperative cyberspace," he said.

Hong said the government also objects to media allegations claiming that hacker attacks have been traced to a building in Shanghai owned by the PLA.

Hong said he does not know how such evidence could be discovered, as cyber attacks are often carried out internationally and are typically done so anonymously.

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