The UK on Monday accused Beijing-backed groups of targeting “democratic institutions and parliamentarians” in two cybercampaigns, unveiling sanctions and summoning China’s ambassador.
The Chinese embassy in Britain hit back, calling the claim “completely unfounded” and accusing London of “malicious slander.”
With Britain expected to hold a general election within months, London detailed attacks in 2021 and 2022 that targeted the Electoral Commission and UK parliamentary accounts, including those of lawmakers critical of China.
Photo: AFP / Parliamentary Recording Unit
“Chinese state-affiliated actors were responsible for two malicious cybercampaigns targeting both our democratic institutions and parliamentarians,” British Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden told lawmakers.
He said that both campaigns, while a “real and serious threat,” were ultimately thwarted.
Dowden said an unnamed “Chinese state-affiliated entity” likely “compromised” UK Electoral Commission systems, but he insisted election security was not affected.
“It will not impact how people register, vote or otherwise participate in democratic processes,” he said.
Parliament’s cybersecurity measures blocked a second campaign against lawmakers, many of whom are critical of Beijing, he added.
Two individuals and one company linked to the Chinese-backed group suspected of orchestrating the campaign — APT31 — have been hit with sanctions over the latter case.
The Chinese ambassador to the UK has been summoned “to account for China’s conduct,” Dowden said.
Conservative lawmaker Iain Duncan Smith, one of those targeted, said Beijing should be labeled a threat to the UK.
He was one of several British lawmakers sanctioned by China in 2021 because of criticisms of human rights abuses against China’s Uighur minority and in Hong Kong.
China’s embassy slammed the accusations as “sinister action” by the UK.
Blaming China for the attacks “is completely unfounded and constitutes malicious slander,” it said in a statement released on its Web site, adding that it had made a complaint to the UK.
The British announcement came as Washington said it had charged seven Chinese nationals in connection with a 14-year campaign against critics of Beijing.
US Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said more than 10,000 e-mails were sent as part of a “prolific global hacking operation” targeting US and foreign-based businesses, politicians and journalists.
New Zealand late on Monday also revealed that its parliamentary system was hacked by a Chinese state-backed group in 2021.
The nation’s counterespionage agency in Wellington said a state-backed group known as APT40 compromised computers linked to the Parliamentary Counsel Office, which drafts and publishes laws.
New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said he had instructed diplomats to “speak today to the Chinese ambassador, to lay out our position and express our concerns.”
“That conversation has now taken place,” he said.
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