America's Global Surveillance Record

Contents

I. America conducts widespread secret surveillance across the globe

II. America sets China as the main target of its secret surveillance

III. America's unscrupulous secret surveillance programs

IV. America's global surveillance program hit by worldwide criticism

Foreword

In June, 2013, the media in the UK, the United States and China's Hong Kong exposed the National Security Agency's clandestine surveillance program, codenamed PRISM, using documents released by the former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. The leaked information provoked shock and outrage. Subsequently, an investigation carried out by various Chinese government departments over several months confirmed the existence of snooping activities directed against China.

As a superpower, America takes advantage of its political, economic, military and technological hegemony to spy without restraint on other countries, including its allies. America's spying operations have gone far beyond the legal rationale of "anti-terrorism” and have exposed the ugly face of its pursuit of self-interest in complete disregard for moral integrity. These operations flagrantly infringe international laws, seriously impinge on human rights and put global cyber security under threat. As such, they deserved to be rejected and condemned by the whole world.

America's secret surveillance activities directed against China and other parts of the world include:

- Collecting data on nearly 5 billion mobile telephone calls across the globe every day;

- Monitoring German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cell phone for more than 10 years;

- Plugging into the main fiber optic connections between Yahoo's and Google's overseas data centers, and stealing data of hundreds of millions of customers;

- Monitoring mobile phone apps over a period of years to grab personal data;

- Waging large scale cyber-attacks against China, with both Chinese leaders and the Chinese telecoms giant Huawei as targets

Targets of American surveillance include the Chinese government and Chinese leaders, Chinese companies, scientific research institutes, ordinary netizens, and a large number of cell phone users. China sticks to the path of peaceful development, and sees no justification for being targeted by America's secret surveillance agencies under the guise of fighting terrorism.

America must provide explanations for its surveillance activities, cease spying operations that seriously infringe upon human rights, and refrain from causing stress and antagonism in global cyber space.