China Blasts "Baseless" Cyber-Spying Accusations, Warns Of "Serious Damage" To Relations

by Tyler Durden

Thu, 12/20/2018 Print

So much for that "truce"...

Following today's indictments of two Chinese nationals for cyber espionage (or cyber theft) in which the Trump administration and more than a dozen of its allies condemned Beijing on Thursday over the MSS's campaign to steal other countries' trade secrets and advanced technologies, as well as its efforts to compromise sensitive government and corporate computer networks; China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has responded with a terse statement lambasting the US Government.

Chin foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying says in statement that the Chinese government has never participated or supported any stealing of trade secrets (ZH: if it happens, it happens, we never told them to) and urged the U.S. to correct its own cyber espionage wrongdoings and withdraw indictment of Chinese nationals.

Full Statement: (via Google Translate)

Comment on the Mistakes of the US on Cyber ​​Security Issues

The United States fabricated facts about so-called "cyber theft" with groundless accusations about the Chinese on network security issues, on the basis of which two Chinese officials were "prosecuted."

This move is a serious violation of the basic norms of international relations and seriously damages Sino-US cooperation. The nature is very bad. The Chinese side is resolutely opposed to this and has already made solemn representations to the US.

The Chinese government's position on cybersecurity issues is consistent and clear. China is a staunch defender of cybersecurity and has consistently opposed and cracked down on any form of cybersecurity.

The Chinese government has never participated in or supported anyone in any way in stealing trade secrets.

For a long time , it has long been an open secret for the relevant departments of the United States to conduct large-scale and organized network theft and monitoring and monitoring activities for foreign governments, enterprises and individuals .

US party with the name of so-called "cyber theft" to the Chinese side groundless accusations , purely falsely accuse , self-deception . China will never accept it.

We urge the US to immediately correct the wrong practices, stop smearing the Chinese side on cyber security issues, and revoke the so-called prosecution of Chinese personnel, so as to avoid serious damage to the relations between the two countries and the cooperation between the two sides in related fields. China will take necessary measures to firmly safeguard China's cybersecurity and its own interests.

Individual countries such as the United Kingdom have also published rumors about China on cybersecurity issues. They are purely out of thin air and have ulterior motives. We will never accept it and resolutely oppose it.

We urge these countries to respect the facts and stop deliberate defamation of China, so as not to damage their bilateral relations and cooperation with China in important areas.

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That is a very aggressive statement in the context of Chinese official documents and raises more than an eyebrow at some of their claims, and threats.

One wonders if the recent weakness in stocks reflects this dramatic breakdown in US-Sino relations as much as the Fed's tightening stance