Source: Global Times    Published: 2018-12-21

Chinese experts and officials on Friday strongly condemned the latest US Justice Department accusation of China’s hacking behaviors, which is considered to be predicated on rising McCarthyism in America that has seriously interrupted its judgment and decision-making process.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted two Chinese men, accusing them of being part of hacker group APT10, who allegedly worked with China’s Ministry of State Security to hack dozens of US companies, stealing trade secrets by using malware, according to a statement issued by DOJ on Thursday night.

It also said China is using its industrial policy – Made in China 2025 – to steal ideas from other companies in other nations to advance its own industries. The Chinese Foreign Ministry (FM) said on Friday morning that China strongly opposes the US’ hacking allegation and lodged a strong objection to the US.

This move severely damages the basic code of international relations and China-US cooperation, the ministry noted.

“We urge the US to stop defaming China and withdraw its so-called prosecution so to avoid serious damages,” the ministry said.

US anxiety has led to its misconduct and disorder, as it has put an outdated case from 2014 on the table, Shen Yi, head of Fudan University's Cyberspace Governance Research Institute, said regarding the DOJ’s accusation of China’s commercial hacking.

“China should take legal actions against all US hackers, either institutions or individuals, and should kick out those American banks and companies that have been cooperating with the US government for information gathering for many times,” Shen told the Global Times on Friday.

“And don’t forget the Snowden incident, China is the largest victim of cyber hacking, and the US is the largest hacker worldwide,” he added.

The latest DOJ announcement reflects US ignorance, which was also in line with its latest moves of striking Chinese companies like Huawei by using the excuse of national security, Wang Yiwei, senior fellow with the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times.

Wang Yiwei is a senior fellow with the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at the Renmin University of China.