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China has called the US a “villain” following the latest wave of accusations against Washington over cyber surveillance by former intelligence contractor
Edward Snowden, in a sign that the case could add pressure to ties between the world’s two largest economies.
The South China Morning Post quoted Mr Snowden in its newest report as saying that the US National Security Agency “does all kinds of things like hack Chinese cell phone companies to steal all of your SMS data”.
This followed allegations by Mr Snowden a day earlier that Washington had hacked into Tsinghua University, home to one of China’s main telecoms network backbones, as recently as January.
“These, along with previous allegations, are clearly troubling signs. They demonstrate that the United States, which has long been trying to play innocent as a victim of cyber attacks, has turned out to be the biggest villain in our age,” Xinhua, China’s official news agency, said in an editorial on Sunday.
The tough language contrasts with the cautious approach Beijing has taken so far in dealing with the Snowden case. The government’s only substantive comment so far had been a statement that Washington owed the world an explanation.
The harder line comes after the US formally charged Mr Snowden with violating espionage laws and stealing government property, and requested his extradition from Hong Kong, the Chinese special administrative region where he is hiding.
Hong Kong has an extradition treaty with the US and its own laws, but China can refuse an extradition on national security grounds.
Xinhua argued that Washington should “come clean about its record first. It owes too an explanation to China and other countries it has allegedly spied on. It has to share with the world the range, extent and intent of its clandestine hacking programs.”
The news agency also explicitly made the claim for the first time that Mr Snowden’s leaks are helping China – a view experts have been expressing in private. “The drama around Snowden also tends to support China’s stand on the issue of cyber security,” Xinhua said.
Mr Snowden’s decision to publicise details of the Prism programme under which the NSA collects extensive data on internet and phone communication, came just as the US was stepping up moves to publicly accuse China of frequent state-sponsored hacking and cyber espionage.
Washington intends to pressure Beijing into agreeing on some “rules of the road” on cyber space, including a promise not to allow the electronic theft of US companies’ intellectual property.
Xinhua ended on a conciliatory note, reiterating its long-held stance that both the US and China were victims of hacking, and should talk through their suspicions.
“With good intentions, they can even work for the establishment of certain rules that help define and regulate Internet activities and mechanisms that can work out their differences when frictions do arise,” it said.
China labels US a ‘villain’ after latest Snowden claims - FT.com
Edward Snowden, in a sign that the case could add pressure to ties between the world’s two largest economies.
The South China Morning Post quoted Mr Snowden in its newest report as saying that the US National Security Agency “does all kinds of things like hack Chinese cell phone companies to steal all of your SMS data”.
This followed allegations by Mr Snowden a day earlier that Washington had hacked into Tsinghua University, home to one of China’s main telecoms network backbones, as recently as January.
“These, along with previous allegations, are clearly troubling signs. They demonstrate that the United States, which has long been trying to play innocent as a victim of cyber attacks, has turned out to be the biggest villain in our age,” Xinhua, China’s official news agency, said in an editorial on Sunday.
The tough language contrasts with the cautious approach Beijing has taken so far in dealing with the Snowden case. The government’s only substantive comment so far had been a statement that Washington owed the world an explanation.
The harder line comes after the US formally charged Mr Snowden with violating espionage laws and stealing government property, and requested his extradition from Hong Kong, the Chinese special administrative region where he is hiding.
Hong Kong has an extradition treaty with the US and its own laws, but China can refuse an extradition on national security grounds.
Xinhua argued that Washington should “come clean about its record first. It owes too an explanation to China and other countries it has allegedly spied on. It has to share with the world the range, extent and intent of its clandestine hacking programs.”
The news agency also explicitly made the claim for the first time that Mr Snowden’s leaks are helping China – a view experts have been expressing in private. “The drama around Snowden also tends to support China’s stand on the issue of cyber security,” Xinhua said.
Mr Snowden’s decision to publicise details of the Prism programme under which the NSA collects extensive data on internet and phone communication, came just as the US was stepping up moves to publicly accuse China of frequent state-sponsored hacking and cyber espionage.
Washington intends to pressure Beijing into agreeing on some “rules of the road” on cyber space, including a promise not to allow the electronic theft of US companies’ intellectual property.
Xinhua ended on a conciliatory note, reiterating its long-held stance that both the US and China were victims of hacking, and should talk through their suspicions.
“With good intentions, they can even work for the establishment of certain rules that help define and regulate Internet activities and mechanisms that can work out their differences when frictions do arise,” it said.
China labels US a ‘villain’ after latest Snowden claims - FT.com
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