Cyber security. Photo: IC

The Chinese Mission to the European Union (EU) and Chinese embassies in Norway, the UK, Canada, and New Zealand on Tuesday slammed EU and NATO for making groundless accusations that China engaged in malicious cyber activities that "undermined the integrity of cyberspace worldwide." Boasting themselves as the guardians of cyber security, some Western countries have been eavesdropping massively and indiscriminately across the world, the Mission said.

In a statement issued on Monday, EU claimed that malicious cyber activities undertaken from the territory of China have undermined the security and integrity of thousands of computers and networks worldwide. It said that the EU has detected malicious cyber activities from China that targeted government institutions, organizations and key industries for intellectual property theft and espionage. NATO also accused China of carrying out cyber activities that endangered Euro-Atlantic security.

Slamming the EU and NATO's allegations, spokesperson of the Chinese Mission to the EU said that the statements were not based on facts, but speculation and groundless accusations. He added that China has always been a firm defender of cyber security and has cracked down on cyber attacks launched within China or using Chinese cyber facilities. 

"For years, certain countries in the West have abused their technological advantages for massive and indiscriminate eavesdropping across the world, even on its close allies. At the same time, they have boasted themselves as the guardians of cyber security. They push around their allies to form small circles and repeatedly smear and attack other countries on cyber security issues," the Mission said. 

Such practices fully expose the West's hypocrisy, it added. 

The Mission said it will follow closely NATO's attempts to break its geographical constraints under the guise of cyber security to make false accusations against China.

Over the years, China has been a major victim of cyber attacks. According to the annual report by the National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team/Coordination Center of China (CNCERT/CC), in 2020 about 5.31 million hosts on the Chinese mainland were controlled by a total of about 52,000 overseas servers. 

This has severely harmed China's national security, economic and social development and people's lives, the Mission noted. 

The top three origins of overseas servers in terms of the number of compromised Chinese hosts are all from NATO member states. The Mission called on related countries to take immediate actions to investigate and stop malicious cyber activities. 

Politicization and stigmatization won't solve cyber security concerns. It will only weaken mutual trust and cooperation that are most needed to address global issue, the Mission said. 

Last September, China put forward the Global Initiative on Data Security, which advocates that countries should stand against ICT activities that impair or steal important data of critical infrastructure in other countries.

A number of Chinese embassies, including those in Norway, the UK, Canada, and New Zealand, have also issued statements refuting the US-led rumors concerning China's cyber activities.