China accuses us of using 'national security' as pretext to maintain cyberspace hegemony

China accuses us of using 'national security' as pretext to maintain cyberspace hegemony


Republicworld is ON AIR - VIEW NOW

Please note: this is Beta feature.



Play all audios:

Loading...

China has labelled the United States the “biggest threat to global cybersecurity," accusing it of using national security as a pretext to keep its “hegemony in cyberspace” intact. The


remarks were made by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning in response to the latest White House executive order that cracks down on the use of spy technology. Ning said that the


order would be of no use to alter the fact that the US is the “biggest threat" to cybersecurity across the globe which still targets foreign states and companies “under the pretexts of


national security and human rights without any evidence." Beijing said that Washington “knowingly abuses technology” for espionage and other malicious purposes, according to RT. “The US


government, in an attempt to maintain its hegemony in cyberspace, knowingly abuses technology for cyber surveillance and theft of secrets,” Ning told the press on Friday, exhorting the US


to “stop its global hacking operations.” The Chinese spokesperson's remarks come on the heels of US President Joe Biden's new executive order that seeks a ban on “commercial


spyware that poses risks to national security or has been misused by foreign actors." During the briefing, a reporter also noted that the Biden administration's move was a sharp


juxtaposition to its previous work with the Israeli cyber surveillance firm NSO Group. Earlier this week, the New York Times reported that the US government struck a "secret" deal


with the company through a front organisation two years ago. The contract permitted officials to use the firm's ‘Landmark’ geolocation tool to secretly monitor “thousands” of cellular


device users across Mexico. Furthermore, the contract “allows for Landmark to be used against mobile numbers in the United States,” although the outlet noted that it was unable to gather any


evidence on it.