China hits back at Pentagon's cyber spy allegations

China has been forced to strongly deny claims made in a new Pentagon report that it is the world’s number one cyber spy and represents a growing threat to US economic security. Foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei expressed “firm opposition” to the report and said “China's justified and normal military development" had been …

[Anonymous Coward]

Riiiighhhhttt...

So Boeing, MS,Colt, HP, Intel etc etc etc never make equipment for both civillian and military use then?

Pot, the kettles over there.

And these days I'm not sure who distrusts it's civilian population more, the US (and lapdog UK) or China.

[Arctic fox]

Re: Riiiighhhhttt... Indeed. Whenever any nation talks in these terms.........

................there is always a great deal of self-serving hypocrisy involved. Just to take one point from this. Even if their (rather high) estimate of the Chinese military budget (at 180 billion) is true, the US military budget is still significantly over double that and that is without including the costs of their operations in Afghanistan and any remaining military presence in Irak. When one in turn considers that China is a nation with roughly four times the population of the US one has to regard (whatever opinion one has of the Chinese political system) their current military expenditure as fairly modest by comparison.

[Matt 21]

Begging bowl

Sounds to me like the US military are out looking for funding........

Those naughty Chinese fellows, of course the US are the 'good guys' and never get involved in industrial espionage and certainly would never use their ratings agencies to divert attention from their own economic problems........

[K]

Where ordinary folk only get to hear one side of every story

I think your reporter needs a reality check.

Media in every country pushes its "national message" (aka propoganda), but your reporter is also very naive if it thinks Chinese people are not aware. My brother lives in China and I'm also a frequent visitor, so can say from broad experience they have access to far more than you give them credit for.

Yes certain things are censored, but that can be said about any country. How much has been censored in the UK? And usually its the most ridiculous of stories.. At least the chinese are consistant!

[Neal 5]

Yanks? who'da thunk it

"Clearly, US intelligence has advanced to the point now where it can be pretty certain that cyber espionage attacks on its networks have been carried out,"............. spot the oxymoron?

" if not directly by Chinese military then certainly by “Chinese actors”." .............. I'm sure Jackie Chan or any other Chinese actor has recourse to legal action for defamation.

[Anonymous Coward]

So, what are they after?

As other posters have said, China is doing what everone else is doing (including the US), only better. It makes me wonder what the Pentagon is really after with this.

A National Firewall to block/control Chinese intrusions? No - attacks can come from anywhere.

Given that the enemy is already running around freely behind the lines, the only thing that would do some good would be to mandate regular sweeps of all networks, including civilian ones. Gonna need a government-issue Cyber Cop on all business networks.

[Anonymous Coward]

Hmmmm

Reading that report, the Chinese have realised that economic and military power are mutually required, one to support the other and that "peaceful economic" dominance requires both, together with playing an active part in the world (aka "policing the world") and using small intervention actions to hone their military skills and demonstrate their capability to potential aggressors.

I wonder where they got the idea for that from???

This is why the Americans are scared, this isn't a purely military threat, this is a blended economic and military power thats following the same lines they did... and at a pace.

The report only makes minor mention of Chinese computer based espionage, unlike the Reg story ;-)

[ballist1x]

Im not sure what the US is complaining about. If the Chinese are spying on the US then they can only ever attain the technology that the US already has, but that only works 9/10 as well due to it being a copy no doubt.

What the US should be worried about is china coming up with new secret technologies in complete secrecy via their own DARPA or whatever they have. Surely this would be more of a threat as the US wouldnt know what it was or how to deal with it, which they can presumably do with their own kit...

Also, "US economic security" is such a broad term...Simply increasing the GDP of China is a threat to US economic security..The EURO going bust is also a threat to economic security...Anything that increases the wealth of another country is a threat ultimately...

[Notas Badoff]

"However, in a nation where ordinary folk only get to hear one side of every story, both arguments are unfortunately likely to be accepted without question."

No, the people are likely to 'accept' that the government organ says this, and then wonder what the real story is. They won't 'accept' this as the simple truth. They are not that 'simple'.

As to the above respondents who mouth platitudes about PRC merely building up their forces proportionately... Ask Vietnam, Phillipines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan, Korea or anyone else in waters anywhere near China. Ask if they 'like' the Chinese military showing up claiming the entire South China sea as China's. Fishing, oil... all China's. Look up the Spratlys - claimed in part by four countries - and entirely by China.

'Communist' PRC is using maps from the imperial eras, and enforcing them. This is dangerous, now and every time. Anyone up for lebensraum games?

Reuters: Insight: Conflict looms in South China Sea oil rush

Look at the second map here: Territorial disputes in the South China Sea

[Anonymous Coward]

Aw diddums!

What's wrong, Merky-Werky? Is 'oo upset coz 'oo is not the bestest, any more? It's OK. Mummy-wummy still loves 'oo the mostest.

Yours sincerely.

HMG.

[Anonymous Coward]

Sour Grapes

The USa is just acting out of sour grapes: they first of all wanted China to embrace more market ideas, but not so much that they became better at it than the USA was. However, China became better than the USA, so much so that the USA buys lots of Chinese goods now, and it owes China lots of money. So, true to form, it is in the USA's interest to disparage China at every opportunity. Also, China pursues its territorial claims openly, and does not secretly destabilize other countries and forment revolution there (like USA did with Chile), or invade other countries on the fake claims of WMS, though, in reality, as a means of securing claims over oil reserves (as in Iraq). the USA has a history of publically saying it does not want to interevene in any otrher country, yet its fingers and malign influence can be seen everywhere. It is sheer hypocrisy on the USA's part and is probably happening now as the military there see savage cuts being needed in the future, and want to preserve their own patch of funding.