BEIJING: China warned the United States on Thursday (Aug 27) against “smearing” Beijing with hacking allegations after US law enforcement disrupted internet domains it said were used by Chinese state-sponsored groups.
The US Justice Department and FBI said Tuesday they had seized domains used by a Chinese state-sponsored hacking group known as “QTFY” and hacking platforms “QScan” and “QTRouter”.
They said that victims of QTFY intrusion included NASA, the Federal Reserve, the US Senate and the departments of energy, justice and health and human services.
Beijing’s foreign ministry called the allegations “false information” on Thursday, accusing the United States of “distorting right and wrong”.
“China expresses strong dissatisfaction with and firm opposition to the US side’s repeated wrongful practice of smearing China under the pretext of cybersecurity concerns,” spokesman Lin Jian told reporters at a news briefing.
US federal law enforcement “investigated and disabled the PRC’s (People’s Republic of China’s) malicious software, the latest in a series of technical operations to dismantle indiscriminate hacking activities sponsored by” China, Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement on Tuesday.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the operation resulted in the disruption of a “global botnet and hacking platform used by Chinese state-sponsored hackers to target US critical infrastructure”.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin urged Washington on Thursday to abandon its “double standards and political manipulation”.
“The United States is globally recognised as the world’s biggest hacking and surveillance empire, its track record is notorious and the evidence is irrefutable,” he added.
The United States and several other countries frequently condemn what they say is state-backed Chinese hacking activity of governments, militaries and businesses.
Beijing rejects the allegations.
