China rejects US accusation of cyber attacks

BEIJING - China on Tuesday rejected the latest US charges of cyber hacking against the Chinese military, saying that what the US approach on the issue is not constructive at all.

A private US cyber security company on Monday accused a unit of China's military of hacking to advance satellite and aerospace programs.

The accusation is the second in less than a month after the United States announced on May 19 an indictment against five Chinese military officers on allegations of cyber theft.

"I have noticed the report you mentioned, its wording and style looks familiar, citing the names of the hackers and their claims of their military identity," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular news briefing.

"Have you ever seen thieves bearing a name tag saying thieves?" Hua questioned.

After the US secret surveillance program codenamed PRISM, revealed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, abundant evidence shows the US has organized a massive cyber theft, wiretapping and surveillance activities against political figures, enterprises and individuals in a number of countries including China, according to Hua.

"The US is a hacking empire," Hua said. "It is not constructive for the US to attack others instead of repenting and correcting its own mistakes."

Cyber attacks are a global problem, transnational and anonymous in nature, requiring cooperation between countries, Hua said.

China submitted an initiative for a code of conduct for information security to the UN in 2011, calling on all countries to jointly safeguard a peaceful, secure, stable and open cyber space, Hua said.

China is willing to work with the international community to fight against hacker attacks and other cyber crimes, the spokeswoman added.