It’s confirmed: “China firmly opposes and combats all forms of cyberattacks,” according to Mao Ning, spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
What a relief. For years, the evidence had been piling up all the other way.
And there’s this, what Ning was responding to, summarized at UnderstandingWar.org’s “China-Taiwan Weekly Update, February 23, 2024”:
The CCP is engaging in global cyberattacks to degrade regional countries’ capacity to engage in military action against the PRC during a crisis. The cyberattacks could also facilitate actions against individuals who oppose the CCP. US and foreign partner cybersecurity and intelligence agencies confirmed in a joint advisory on February 7 that a PRC state-sponsored cyber threat actor known as Volt Typhoon infiltrated critical infrastructure organizations in the continental United States and US territories. The authoring agencies assessed with high confidence that Volt Typhoon’s goal was to develop the capability to disrupt key operational technology…in the event of a conflict with the United States…. The cyber company I-Soon, which has contracts with the PRC Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of State Security, and People’s Liberation Army, subsequently leaked documents in late February that revealed additional CCP cyber operations. The targets of the operations include NATO, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam, and India. I-Soon also hacks X (formerly Twitter) accounts to uncover user identities.
A February 13 report from the US security firm Trellix also shows a significant increase in cyberattacks against Taiwan during the 24 hours before its January 13 presidential election….
The CCP refuted [sic] that it is responsible for the cyberattacks. The PRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokeswoman Mao Ning…falsely claimed on February 22 that “China firmly opposes and combats all forms of cyberattacks.”
France 24 quoted Ming (shown above) as saying: “As a principle, China firmly opposes all forms of cyberattacks and cracks down on them in accordance with law.”
Our one objection to Understanding War’s reporting pertains to wording, to its statement that Ning “refuted” something in her comments to reporters about the attacks. She disputed or contradicted reports or claims that China is cyberattacking other countries. She didn’t “refute” anything if we understand the word “refute” to mean showing or making an honest effort to show that a conclusion or train of thought is wrong rather than only arbitrarily asserting that it is wrong.
Also see:
Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency: “PRC State-Sponsored Actors Compromise and Maintain Persistent Access to U.S. Critical Infrastructure”
France 24: “Massive leak shows Chinese firm hacked foreign govts, activists: analysts”
PBS News Hour: “Leaked hacking files show Chinese spying on citizens and foreigners alike”
