US Must Immediately Stop Cyberattacks Against China - Chinese Foreign Ministry

BEIJING (Sputnik) - The United States must take a more responsible position on cyberspace and immediately stop cyberattacks against China, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Monday.

"China urges the US government to take a more responsible position on cyberspace and stop malicious network activity immediately," the diplomat said.

Zhao called the US a "hacker empire" and expressed great concern over cyberattacks carried out from the country, which uses China as a bridgehead to harm other states.

Last Friday, the Chinese Xinhua news agency reported that foreign hackers had taken control of China's computers to attack Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. In 87% of cases, the cyberattacks aimed to target Russia. According to the media, the majority of the cyberattacks came from the United States. The rest of them were carried out from Germany, the Netherlands and other countries.

On 24 February, Russia began a military operation in Ukraine, responding to calls for help from the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Lugansk in countering the aggression of Ukrainian troops. After that, the Anonymous hacking group declared a "cyberwar against the Russian government" in protest against the operation.