China on Monday described President Donald Trump’s allegations that a recent cyber attack on the U.S. Treasury and other key U.S. institutions may be of Chinese descent. Instead, the AFP reports that the US administration is blaming Russia for the attack.
Donald Trump on Saturday underestimated the cyber attack on US government agencies and Russia’s role. He thus contradicted Foreign Secretary Mike Pompeo, saying that Moscow’s involvement in the case was “very clear.”
“Russia is always suspicious when something happens, but China may also be behind the cyber attacks,” he added. The U.S. president said China’s potential role was not in question “mostly for financial reasons.”
In response, Chinese diplomatic spokesman Wang Wenpin did not formally deny Beijing’s involvement, but called the US allegations “contradictory and frivolous.”
“US allegations against China have always been associated with a mockery and hidden political motives,” he told reporters.
“When it comes to cyber security, America’s behavior is not good. If a country is in a position to criticize others, it is the United States,” he said.
Microsoft announced Thursday night that it has informed more than 40 customers affected by the malware used by hackers, most of them in the United States. Countries involved include Belgium (the headquarters of NATO and the European Commission), Canada and the United Kingdom. The hackers were able to compromise Solarwinds’ Orion program, an American company used to manage and oversee the computer networks of large companies or administrations.
