A day after former CIA staffer Edward Snowden claimed American hackers had targeted China for years, Beijing on Thursday told the US not to adopt double standards on the issue of cyber security
The two countries have long been locked in a battle of accusing each other of hacking government and corporate accounts.
Revelations by Snowden, in hiding in Hong Kong, has the potential to further damage China-US ties which was expected to look up after President Xi Jinping’s recent US trip.
“Adoption of double standards will bring no benefit to the settlement of the relevant issue,” Hua Chunying, foreign ministry spokesperson, told the daily briefing when questioned about Snowden and the state of cyber security.
Hua said that China is a major victim of hacking and cyber-attacks and strongly advocated complete cyber security.
“The international community should carry out constructive dialogue to jointly maintain cyber security around the world. In the future China will carry out constructive dialogue including with relevant countries about cyber security in the future,” she said.
Hua, however, avoided direct reference to Snowden or on the extradition procedure to be followed if the US put up a request to Hong Kong to do so.
{{/usCountry}}Hua, however, avoided direct reference to Snowden or on the extradition procedure to be followed if the US put up a request to Hong Kong to do so.
{{/usCountry}}“What I said was we have read relevant reports but have no information on that,” was her refrain.