US must stop cyberattacks, smearing against China: Spokesperson

BEIJING: China urges the United States to immediately stop its cyberattacks against China and stop smearing China, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Monday.

China’s National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center and the 360 Digital Security Group jointly published a report titled “Volt Typhoon: A Conspiratorial Swindling Campaign Targets with U.S. Congress and Taxpayers Conducted by U.S. Intelligence Community” on April 15.

Lin made the remarks at a daily press briefing when asked to comment on the report and repeated U.S. accusations that the Chinese government supported Volt Typhoon’s cyberattacks.

“According to the report, ‘Volt Typhoon’ is actually a ransomware cybercriminal group that calls itself the ‘Dark Power’ and is not sponsored by any state or region,” said Lin.

Lin added that there are signs that in order to receive more congressional budgetary spending and government contracts, the U.S. intelligence community and cybersecurity companies have been secretly collaborating to piece together false evidence and spread disinformation about so-called Chinese government’s support for cyberattacks against the United States.

“It’s no secret that the United States is the world’s largest source of cyberattacks and the biggest threat to cybersecurity,” Lin said.

Some in the United States have been using origin-tracing of cyberattacks as a tool to hit and frame China, claiming that the United States is the victim while it’s the other way round, and politicizing cybersecurity issues, Lin said, adding that their actions seriously harm China’s lawful rights and interests.

“China urges the United States to immediately stop its cyberattacks against China and stop smearing China,” he said.