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Xinhua: Hacking Attacks on China Become Increasingly Serious; Most Attacks Are from the U.S.”

On March 10, 2013, Xinhua published an article asserting that China is a victim of hacking attacks from overseas. In January and February of 2013, most of the cyber attacks against China originated in the U.S.

“According to the National Computer Network Emergency Response Coordination Center (CNCERT), the hacking attacks against China from other countries have become increasingly serious. From the samplings it took from January 1, 2013, to February 28, 2013, CNCERT found that 6,747 Trojans or botnets have hacked into 1.9 million servers in China; of those, 2,196 control servers in the United States controlled 1.287 million host computers in China. Regardless of the quantity of hackings into China’s servers or the numbers of China’s host computers being controlled, the United States was ranked as the #1 (hacker).”

Source: Xinhua, March 10, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2013-03/10/c_114968466.htm
http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/292842.html

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

People’s Daily: U.S. Pushing Global “Cyberspace Arms Race”

On March 8, People’s Daily published an article written by Yang Jian, a scholar at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, in response to a U.S. security company’s report accusing the People’s Liberation Army unit in Shanghai of engaging in cyberwarfare against American corporations, organizations, and government agencies.

"The U.S. institutions, media, and politicians recently joined hands to stir up the so-called incident of China’s cyberspace attacks on the U.S., provoking distrust  in cyber security among the major powers. The logic and thinking process (behind this accusation) are worrisome. The U.S. is guiding global cyber security to a wrong conclusion."

"The U.S. strategic papers are filled with the wrong idea of seeking superpower status in cyberspace. The U.S. was the first to name allies and potential enemies in their network security strategy documents; the first to set up a network force to develop network operational plans; and the first to introduce the concept of deterrence in cyberspace. The U.S. strategy is to make enemies, cause the deterioration of relationships between the countries, and undermine the basis and atmosphere of international cooperation on cyber security. Advocating cyber warfare destroys the peaceful nature of the Internet. With other countries following the lead of the U.S., a worldwide destructive view of cyber security has developed. In the past two years, South Korea, India, NATO, Germany, Britain, Japan, and Russia have one by one established network forces or developed plans for armed forces of network security. The global arms race on cyber space is about to begin."

"The U.S. has taken a lot of trouble to look for the shadow of the Chinese military. Actually it hopes to implement outdated and harmful cyber security concepts by making an enemy and tracking the evidence. So far, only the U.S. government has initiated cyber attacks against nuclear facilities and network firewalls in countries. In the current round of the so-called China’s cyber attack incident, the U.S. again has provided a wrong presentation, which validates its revengeful actions based on the so-called ‘facts’ recognized by its own domestic organization. The U.S. already played this trick when launching the Iraqi war. The act of making up excuses for its unilateral actions, if spread in cyberspace, will bring catastrophic consequences."

Source: People’s Daily, March 8, 2013
http://military.people.com.cn/n/2013/0308/c1011-20718565.html

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

China’s Defense Ministry Claims U.S. Hackers Frequently Attack Chinese Military Websites

On February 28, 2013, China’s Defense Ministry held a press conference at which its spokesperson, Geng Yansheng,  claimed that hackers from the United States have launched frequent attacks against China’s military websites. Geng stated, “In 2012, according to the IP addresses of the display, the websites of China’s Ministry of Defense and military newspaper PLA Daily suffered attacks from the outside on an average of 14.4 million time per month. Attacks from the United States accounted for 62.9 percent of the total.” 

Geng also stated, “A number of China’s military websites have faced serious threats from cyber attacks since their inception. In recent years, the number of attacks has shown an upward trend. We noticed that the U.S. media recently reported that the United States will adopt the policy of "pre-emptive" cyber attacks, expand network warfare units on a large-scale, and establish rules for cyber warfare. The above practices are not conducive to the joint efforts of the international community to enhance Internet security. We hope that the United States will explain and clarify its position.” 

Sources: Website of China’s Defense Ministry, Xinhua 
http://www.mod.gov.cn/auth/2013-03/01/content_4434987.htm 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2013-03/01/c_124401781.htm

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

People’s Daily: Do Not Easily Trust that the Americans “Snubbed” Abe

In the media reports about Japanese Prime Minister Abe’s visit to the U.S., people noticed that the U.S. was relatively low key when hosting Abe. Also, Obama didn’t make an open statement in public regarding the Senkaku (Diaoyu) Islands issue. Some interpreted the situation as the United States “snubbing” Abe. 

An article in People’s Daily reminded Chinese readers not to fall into such a trap so easily. The article said, “The three parties of China, Japan, and the United States have been carefully playing the diplomatic game around the Diaoyu Islands issue. … China asked the United States to be strict in maintaining a neutral stance. Relying on its  relationship with the U.S. as an ally, Japan tried to pull the United States into explicitly siding with them and backing Japan. Publicly, the U.S. claims to maintain a neutral position, but, behind the scenes, it has already chosen a side. All its words target China from the inside out. In other words, in its consideration of the strategic interests of the Diaoyu Islands issue, the United States gives more weight to its relations with Japan as an ally.” 
“… In its adjusted U.S. Asia-Pacific strategy, Japan ranks as an important ally. Compared to China, it is self-evident who is closer and who is farther away. To this, we Chinese people should be clear in our hearts and have a calm and strong mind. We should neither overreact to the closeness of the United States and Japan nor be fooled by the false illusion of ‘cold’ diplomatic gestures.” 
Finally, the article asserted that “China’s continuous growth and development is the fundamental guarantee of the final solution to the Diaoyu Islands issue. As China continues to grow, China will surely become more confident, calm and firm [in dealing with the issue]. While in the process of solving this problem, [China] still needs to calculate the pros and cons carefully and to take action with good reasoning, with advantage, and with restraint.” 
Source: People’s Daily, February 26, 2013 
http://world.people.com.cn/n/2013/0227/c57507-20610222.html
Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Xinhua Suggests Mandiant’s Cyberattacks Report Is Marketing Hype

On February 20, 2013, Xinhua published a commentary in response to the report, released by Virginia-based information Security Company Mandiant Corporation, on the Chinese military’s involvement in a series of cyber attacks on U.S. and foreign corporations and entities. The Xinhua commentary speculated that the purpose of Mandiant Corporation’s report was marketing hype: “Hurry up to buy our company’s security software and services; the more the better.”

Xinhua denied that there was any relationships between the Chinese military (People’s Liberation Army Unit 61398 based in a Shanghai tower) and the cyber attacks on American companies. The commentary asserted that few professional hackers openly use their own IP address to attack others. Further, Xinhua criticized the U.S. military for its previous cyber attack on Iran.

Source: Xinhua, February, 20, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2013-02/20/c_114741635.htm

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Xinhua Commentary: Hillary’s Departure May Benefit US-China Relations

Xinhua carried an article, originally published in Beijing Evening News, which suggested that Hillary’s departure may help to improve the US-China relationship. The article stated that, during her four year term, Hillary shifted the U.S. focus back to the Asia pacific region and upended the U.S. attitude towards China. As Secretary of State, she had a strong influence on the President’s foreign policy. The article said that Hillary belongs to the group that holds hostile feelings toward China. It also suggested that Kerry, as Hillary’s replacement, may be easier to deal with. The article also speculated that U.S. foreign policy toward China may remain unchanged despite how different Kerry’s personality is.

Source: Xinhua, Feb 1, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2013-02/01/c_124312548.htm?prolongation=1

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

International Herald: Why Does the U.S. Keep Harping on the Chinese Hacker Issue?

In an article published in the International Herald, Yuan Peng, a U.S. expert with the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, listed three reasons why the U.S. keeps harping on the “China Hacker Threat”: 1) The U.S. believes that China has the capability of launching cyber attacks. 2) A few news media and commercial companies continue to malign China because they fear that their own trade secrets will be leaked and they also look at China as their enemy. 3) They deliberately dwell on the cyber threat issue in order to pave the way for the expansion of their cyber team and to build a foundation for possible future cyber wars.

As to how China should react, the article had two suggestions: 1) Stop the rumor at the early stage. 2) Strengthen the development of China’s cyber power in order to build a strong defense and management capability.

Source: International Herald, February 22, 2013
http://ihl.cankaoxiaoxi.com/2013/0222/168494.shtml

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Xinhua: What Are the U.S. Military Hackers Doing?

Xinhua military commentator Zheng Wenhao published an article in response to the cyber attack issue raised in the United States. Zheng observed that recent U.S. media reports declared that Chinese hackers, who were associated with China’s military, had made a large number of vicious attacks against U.S. companies and government entities. He countered that it is the U.S. military that has the world’s most vicious and powerful hacker organization. 

The article asked, “Does the U.S. Army have hackers? The answer is clearly yes. At a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee in April 2005, even before the establishment of the U.S. Cyber Warfare Command in 2010, the U.S. Strategic Command’s senior generals acknowledged the existence of a hacker organization, the so-called ‘Joint Command of cyber warfare functional unit (JFCCNW).’ This organization may be the world’s most frightening and powerful hacker organization."
“In public, JFCCNW is responsible for guarding the network security of the Defense Department. At the same time, it also carries out highly classified computer network attack missions.” 
“JFCCNW almost never talks about its actions and results. There is no doubt, however, that a lot of ‘black projects’ that involve U.S. military ‘cyber attacks’ are ongoing.” 
“Backed by the country’s near monopoly status on Internet technology, the U.S. military undoubtedly has the world’s most powerful capabilities to launch cyber-attacks. Moreover, the numerous U.S. hacker organizations, such as ‘LulzSec’ and ‘Anonymous,’ provide a steady stream of ‘hacker’ reserves for the U.S. military.” 
“In a year in which the world is increasingly influenced by the Internet, it is just a matter of time before the U.S. armed forces and hackers team up. [Therefore], in the field of Internet security, how we can keep our ‘virtual space defense capabilities’ without being affected by the American media and public opinion is a long-standing struggle.” 
Source: Xinhua, February 20, 2012 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2013-02/20/c_124369076.htm
Briefings | | |   US-China Relations