China miffed at US hacker allegations

China is furious that a US congressional report has accused it of developing sophisticated cyber warfare and militarising its space programme.

China is furious that a US congressional report has accused it of developing sophisticated cyber warfare and militarising its space programme.

Last week the US-China Economic and Security Review claimed that China was developing a sophisticated cyber warfare programme aimed at penetrating US computer networks to extract sensitive information.

However the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said the report was aimed at misleading the public and impeding bilateral cooperation.

He claimed that the commission has all along seen China through dark glasses and has deliberately attacked the country with slanderous accusations aimed at misleading public opinion and obstructing the development of Sino-US relations.

The spokesman claimed the report was "unworthy of rebuttal and the aims of the commission are doomed to failure".

Of course saying something was "unworthy of rebuttal" means that you don’t have to come up with a defence, or even have to deny the accusation.

Qin urged the commission to stop issuing such reports and refrain from interfering in China's internal affairs, although we would have thought that its internal affairs stopped at the Great Firewall and the US was fully entitled to moan if its computers were hacked by a foreign power. µ

L'Inq

AP