China Pushes Back On Western Hacking Accusations

Following the coordinated effort yesterday by a number of Western powers to condemn the Chinese gov't or Chinese actors for a major hack on Microsoft's email servers earlier in 2021, Beijing has offered a rebuke. The Chinese gov't has argued that it is Western powers that are carrying out cyberattacks on China itself.

• Katrina Yu at Al Jazerra tweeted on the Foreign Ministry spokesman's comments: "China's spokesman [Lijian Zhao] says the CIA has been hacking Chinese government, aviation, technology & scientific institutions for more than 11 years. #Beijing unequivocally denied facilitating global cyberattacks and urged the US to stop "pouring dirty water" on China. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao implied that the US #cyberattack accusations were based on incomplete evidence and said it was little more than a "political smear." Zhao failed to refer to the collective nature of the cyberattack condemnation - focusing only on the US. But this naming and shaming involved EU, NATO and the Five-eyes countries."