Edward Snowden is seen on the screen during a live remote interview in Hanover, Germany, on March 18, 2015. Photo: Xinhua

The US continues to play the victim of cyberattacks, like a thief shouting "stop thief," but evidence shows that it is the real "hacking empire," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Wednesday, following a report disclosing that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been carrying out cyberattacks on China for 11 years. 

Zhao Lijian, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, urged the US to give a clear explanation of its actions, stop such activities immediately, and return a peaceful, secure, open and cooperative cyberspace to China and the world. 

Zhao said at a routine press briefing on Wednesday that it has long been known that US government agencies have carried out large-scale organized network theft, monitoring, and attacks on foreign governments, enterprises, and individuals, breaching international law and the basic norms of international relations. 

From WikiLeaks and the Snowden incident to the recent Swiss encryption incident, the unethical behavior of the US has been repeatedly exposed. The report released on Tuesday by Chinese tech giant 360 Security Technology is yet another powerful proof, he said. 

By tracking and analyzing the leaked "Vault7," the Chinese company had discovered a series of attacks against China's aerospace, scientific research institutions, petroleum industry and large-scale internet companies by a hacking organization affiliated with the CIA.

The hack, traced back to 2008, mainly targeted organizations in Beijing, Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces.

Zhao insisted that the facts have proven that the US is the world's largest cyber attacker and a veritable "hacking empire."  However, the US pretends to be a frequent victim of cyberattacks, fully exposing its hypocrisy and its double standard on the issue of cybersecurity.  

China has been a serious victim of US cyber theft and attacks, and China has made solemn representations to the US on this occasion, Zhao noted. 

Chinese company Huawei has previously accused the US government of attempting to break into its information systems, and the US has used unscrupulous means to disrupt its businesses, the company said in a statement in September 2019.