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US, China trade hacking claims on new cyberspace rivalry front
- Beijing accuses the United States of being the world’s biggest source of cyberattacks
- US accuses the Ministry of State Security of sponsoring a massive hack of the Microsoft Exchange email software
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Cyberspace has become the latest front in tensions between China and the United States, with each accusing the other of widespread hacking.
The war of words between the two largest economies started on Monday when the US and its allies said cyber actors working with China’s Ministry of State Security had sponsored a massive hack of the Microsoft Exchange email software.
Beijing hit back, rejecting the claims and accusing the US of “indiscriminate eavesdropping across the world”.
“The US mustered its allies to accuse China unreasonably over cybersecurity issues,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Tuesday.
“This is purely political to discredit and suppress China, and China will never accept it.”
Zhao said China resolutely opposed cybercrime and the US allegations lacked “a complete chain of evidence”.
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