CRI: According to a British media outlet, Paul Nakasone, head of the US Cyber Command and the National Security Agency, admitted in an interview the other day that the US has deployed specialists to Ukraine to conduct “hunt forward” operations and conducted “offensive hacking operations” against Russia. Do you have any comment?

Zhao Lijian: We have noticed relevant reports and are concerned over the dangerous and irresponsible US behavior. The US needs to explain to the international community how these “offensive hacking operations” are consistent with its professed position of not engaging directly in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The US and NATO have said that cyber attacks can be considered as an “armed attack”. The US also declared earlier that it could response to cyber attacks with conventional means or even nuclearweapons. According to its own logic of policy-making, the above-mentioned US operations couldlead to the possibility of escalating the Russia-Ukraine conflict situation and even triggering a nuclear attack.

It’s quite obvious that the US is conducting a dangerous experiment in the context of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The US believes that with an unrivalled military cyber capability, it is able to unilaterally control the scale and consequences of offensive hacking operations. However, the reality might not necessarily follow the US’s design. If the situation gets out of control, it will end up harming the common interests of the international community, the US included. Besides, the US has also declared repeatedly about “Forward Deployment” of cyber military forces in some small and medium-sized countries. These countries need to keep their eyes wide open and beware whether such deployment could embroil them in a conflict they don’t seek. 

Cyberspace is the common space of activities for mankind. We urge the US to change its dangerous and irresponsible behavior and join the international community in safeguarding peace and security in cyberspace.