BEIJING —
Outraged by U.S. cyberspying charges against members of a secretive Chinese
military unit, China summoned the U.S. ambassador in Beijing for a dressing
down, state media said Tuesday, and the Defense Ministry blasted the
U.S. accusations as hypocritical.
The
government, meanwhile, published new statistics that it said showed massive
cyberattacks on China
originating from the United States. “Those activities target Chinese
leaders, ordinary citizens and anyone with a mobile phone,” the state-run Xinhua
News Agency reported. “In the meantime, the U.S. repeatedly accuses China of
spying and hacking.”
A day after
the U.S. Justice Department unveiled
explosive criminal cyber-espionage charges against five Chinese military
officers, Beijing was still sputtering with indignation. Late Monday, the
Chinese Foreign Ministry called the charges in a U.S. federal grand jury
indictment “purely fictitious, extremely absurd.” China also announced it was
suspending participation in the Sino-U.S. Cyber Working Group, formed to bridge
differences over cyberspying.
The U.S.
charges are certain to strain Washington’s military
relationship with China, which the Pentagon made a concerted effort to build up
in recent years. A Pentagon spokesman, Rear Adm. John Kirby, said Tuesday that
the Defense Department had been aware of the impending charges and hoped that
they would not stymie cooperation on various fronts.
“The degree
to which this affects the relationship is up to the Chinese,” Kirby said,
noting that Washington’s military relationship with Beijing has been built in
“fits and starts.”
U.S. defense
officials have portrayed the relationship in recent weeks as being on the
upswing. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel visited
Beijing for the first time in his current job last month and said he was
heartened by the frank discussions he held with the country’s defense chiefs.
Just days before the indictments were unsealed, Gen. Martin Dempsey, the
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, hosted his counterpart, Gen. Fang Fenghui,
at the Pentagon for the latest in a series of high-level visits.
Dempsey said
the two leaders had mapped out possible steps they could take to build trust
and avoid miscalculations, including by establishing a secure video conference
system that would allow them to consult regularly.
“All these
initiatives are intended to continue to build a positive relationship, help us
manage risk and reduce the chance of misunderstanding,” Dempsey said during a
joint news conference last week.
“These
visits are an indication that we’re trying to build a better level of trust,”
he said.
China and
Washington have tussled over territorial disputes in the region that involve close
U.S. allies, including Japan and the Philippines. China has argued that its
rivals in those cases have been emboldened by the Obama administration’s policy
to shift more military assets to the region as an era of ground wars comes to
an end.
U.S. officials
recently sought to gain insight into China’s cyber military doctrine by
briefing Chinese officials about Washington’s — but Beijing did not
reciprocate.
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