China condemns cyberattack on Wuhan Earthquake Monitoring Center

BEIJING, July 26 (Xinhua) -- China condemned the cyberattack on the Wuhan Earthquake Monitoring Center by overseas hacker group, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Wednesday.

Mao made the remarks at a regular news briefing in response to a cyberattack on the Wuhan Earthquake Monitoring Center. The attack was detected by China's National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center and Chinese company 360, according to a public statement issued by the Wuhan Municipal Emergency Management Bureau and a bulletin put up by the Wuhan Public Security Bureau on July 26. Some media outlets said preliminary evidence indicates that the cyberattack had come from the United States.

Mao said, according to the statements from relevant Chinese agencies, a hacker group with overseas government background launched a cyberattack on the Wuhan Earthquake Monitoring Center, which is a serious threat to China's national security.

"We condemn the irresponsible attack. China will do what is necessary to safeguard our cybersecurity," she added.

Lately, U.S. officials, including National Security Advisor, Secretary of State, Secretary of Commerce and spokesperson for the White House National Security Council have commented on the so-called "Chinese cyberattacks against the United States." Officials from the U.S. National Security Agency even said that espionage is what nation-states do.

"The statements from China are objective and professional. They simply stated a fact. This is inherently different from the accusation and smear against China from the United States," said Mao, when answering a query regarding the remarks from some U.S. officials on cybersecurity.

Mao said that the U.S. government is engaged in malicious cyber operations against not just China, but countries around the world, while blaming China for so-called "hacking attacks." This is textbook double standards and political manipulation.

Cybersecurity is a common challenge. By politicizing and weaponizing cybersecurity issues, Washington is disrupting the global effort of jointly addressing the challenge through dialogue and cooperation and hampering the mutual trust among countries, Mao said.

"The United States needs to immediately stop its wrongdoing and work with the rest of the world to make common rules through dialogue and cooperation and abide by these rules, and safeguard peace, security and stability in cyberspace with a constructive and pragmatic attitude," she said.