China on Tuesday denied rumors on its so-called "cyber spy network," saying they were purely fictitious.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang made the remarks in response to a question concerning the "Chinese cyber spy network".

Qin reiterated that the Chinese government has always attached great importance to the security of the computer network and firmly opposes and severely cracks down on all crimes that damage the Internet -- including hacking.

"There is a ghost called 'cold war' and a virus called 'the Theory on China's Threat' overseas. Some people, possessed by this ghost and infected with this virus, 'fall ill' from time to time. Their attempts of using rumors to disgrace China will never succeed," said Qin.

"It is the ghost and the virus that should be ferreted out," he stressed.

According to media reports, a Canadian Internet-based research group said that a cyber spy network based mainly in China has tapped into classified documents from government and private organizations in 103 countries, including the computers of Tibetan exiles.

(Xinhua News Agency March 31, 2009)