China said it had issued a “strong” rebuke to the United States on Tuesday after Washington and two key allies accused Beijing of being behind a series of hacks into lawmakers and key democratic institutions. In rare and detailed public accusations against China the United States, Britain and New Zealand described a series of cyber breaches over the last decade or more in what appeared to be a concerted effort to hold Beijing accountable.
In response, China on Tuesday insisted it “opposes and cracks down on all forms of cyberattacks” and accused the US of using the Five Eyes spying alliance “to compile and disseminate false information about threats from Chinese hackers”.
Washington’s accusation on Monday detailed what it called a 14-year “prolific global hacking operation” designed to aid China’s “economic espionage and foreign intelligence objectives.” “China firmly opposes this, has made strong demarches with the United States and relevant parties,” foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said. Beijing, he warned, “will take necessary measures to safeguard China’s legitimate rights and interests.”
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco on Monday said the campaign involved more than 10,000 emails being sent, targeting US and foreign-based businesses, politicians, candidates for elected office and journalists. It charged seven alleged hackers for their roles in gaining access to “email accounts, cloud storage accounts, and telephone call records” the Justice Department said, monitoring some accounts for “years”.
With Britain expected to hold a general election within months, UK Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden also made a shock announcement that “a Chinese state-affiliated entity” had likely “compromised” the country’s Electoral Commission. He said that both campaigns against lawmakers and the Electoral Office, while a “real and serious threat”, were ultimately thwarted. “It will not impact how people register, vote or otherwise participate in democratic processes,” Dowden said.
In a parallel announcement, New Zealand on Tuesday said its Parliamentary Counsel Office, which drafts and publishes laws, had been compromised around the same period. New Zealand, normally one of China’s strongest backers in the West, blamed the Chinese “state-sponsored group” APT40 for the attack.
Recently elected centre-right Prime Minister Christopher Luxon admitted it was a “big step” to blame the cyber attack on China, his country’s biggest trade partner. New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said he had instructed diplomats to “speak today to the Chinese Ambassador, to lay out our position and express our concerns”. “That conversation has now taken place,” he said.
In recent years, Western nations have been increasingly willing to expose malicious cyber operations, and to point fingers at foreign governments — most notably China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran. Both Russia and China have been accused of using cutouts and off-site groups to carry out cyberattacks, making attribution more difficult.
Britain and the United States operate vast cyber operations of their own, although rarely acknowledge them in public. The two nations, along with New Zealand, Australia, and Canada are part of the FiveEyes intelligence sharing network.
