China yesterday described as "groundless" and a product of "Cold
War mentality" reports claiming hackers, on the instructions of the
People's Liberation Army (PLA), had broken into a Pentagon
network.
The Financial Times, citing unidentified former and
serving US officials, said yesterday that PLA hackers had broken
into a US Defense Department network in June to steal data, forcing
the shutdown of a system serving department secretary Robert
Gates.
"The Chinese government has consistently opposed and vigorously
attacked all Internet crimes, including hacking," Foreign Ministry
spokeswoman Jiang Yu said at a regular news briefing in Beijing
yesterday.
China itself is a victim of online attacks, she said.
A Symantec Internet Security Threat Report released in March
found that the US is the source of about 31 percent of all
malicious computer activities, more than four times that of China
(7 percent) and Germany (7 percent).
And 51 percent of the servers used for buying or selling stolen
personal information were in the US, the report said.
Experts have said that hackers in other countries could use
insecure computers and networks in China to disguise their
locations and launch attacks.
Group Established to Tackle Climate
Change?
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has established a group of leaders
to participate in the international work on climate change, Jiang
announced Tuesday.
The group was headed by Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and has two deputy heads, Vice
Foreign Minister Wu Dawei and Assistant Foreign Minister Cui
Tiankai.
"The Ministry's move is not only an important step towards
implementing China's national action response plan for climate
change, but it also shows the Chinese government's active
participation in the international cooperation on responding to
climate change," said Jiang..
Jiang added that the Foreign Ministry has appointed Yu Qingtai,
former Chinese Ambassador to Tanzania as the special representative
for climate change negotiations.
Taiwan referendum condemned
Jiang said that opposing "Taiwan independence" is in the common
interests of both China and the United States.
Jiang confirmed that President Hu Jintao and his US counterpart George W. Bush
would meet on the sidelines of the 15th APEC economic leaders
informal meeting slated for Sept. 3-9 in Sydney, Australia, but did
not say whether their meeting would touch on the referendum plan
created by Taiwan authorities.
She repeated China's hope that the US will strictly adhere to
its committed stance on the one-China policy, abiding by the three
joint communiqués between China and the US and opposing "Taiwan
independence," and work with China to jointly safeguard peace and
stability across the Taiwan Strait.
Jiang said the actions of Taiwan authorities concerning the
referendum plan are secessionist acts that attempt to separate
Taiwan from China.
"We resolutely oppose it and will closely follow development of
the situation," said Jiang.
Arms sale charge denied
Jiang said China has a strict system of management over arms
exports and only sells weapons to sovereign states.
Jiang's remark came in response to news reports that some
weapons used by the Taliban in Afghanistan were from China.
Jiang refuted the reports as "groundless," saying that China has
always adopted a prudent and responsible attitude towards arms
exports and imposes strict controls over such exports according to
China's international obligations and domestic laws and
regulations.
Jiang said that China exports fewer weapons to other countries
in terms of both quality and quantity when compared with what some
developed countries do, and China requires that importing countries
must see to it that no arms exports from China be transferred to a
third party.
China has also supported international efforts to curb illegal
small arms trade, Jiang added.
N Korea-US talks
China hopes the representatives involved in the six-party talks can steadily push forward, but
no specific date has yet been set for the second phase of the sixth
round of the six-party talks.
Jiang said China hopes all involved would gradually implement
the agreements already reached in accordance with the principle of
"mutual trust, mutual interaction, mutual assistance, and mutual
benefit" in a balanced way.
Commenting on the bilateral working group talks between the US
and North Korea, Jiang said China welcomes the positive progress
made in the talks.
Working groups from Japan and North Korea will hold their second
meeting on normalizing bilateral relations on Wednesday in the
Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator. Jiang said China also supported
the improvement of relations between the two countries and hopes to
see positive results from the meeting.
Child labor accusation refuted
China refuted overseas groups' accusations about child labor
abuse, saying the country attaches particularly great importance to
protecting the rights and interests of children.
Jiang noted that the Chinese government has always respected
internationally recognized labor rights and interests and relevant
labor standards.
China has signed eight core conventions proposed by the
International Labor Organization on protecting labor rights and
interests, including a convention on minimum age for employment and
a convention forbidding child labor, Jiang noted.
The Chinese government also takes law enforcement measures and
administrative measures to protect the rights and interests of
children so as to promote the overall development of the whole
nation.
(Xinhua News Agency, China Daily September 5, 2007)
