On September 6, Mr. Wang Lei, Coordinator for Cyber Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs took an exclusive interview with a CCTV correspondent regarding the newly released reports on US cyber attacks and cyber theft against China’s Northwestern Polytechnical University and other targets. The transcript is as follows:   

CCTV: The National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center (CVERC) and cybersecurity company 360 have just released reports respectively, exposing the persistent cyber attacks and cyber theft conducted by the Office of Tailored Access Operations (TAO) under the US National Security Agency (NSA) against Northwestern Polytechnical University and other targets located in China. Do you have any comment on this? 

Wang Lei: These reports are significant as they, for the first time, made public the specific entities that fell victim to US government cyber attacks. 

Since the beginning of this year, China’s cybersecurity institutions have released a series of reports on US persistent cyber attacks and cyber theft against China that have lasted for more than ten years. The previous reports have listed the sectors under US cyber attacks, including finance, telecommunication, scientific research and healthcare. This report is the first one to identify Northwestern Polytechnical University as a specific target of US cyber attacks, providing a complete evidence chain that helps the international community see through the harmful malicious cyber activities by the US government.

According to the newly released reports, US malicious cyber activities have severely endangered the security of China’s critical infrastructure and personal data, in particular business secrets and intellectual property. The US, by taking arbitrary and wanton actions in cyberspace, did not comply with any international rules, and completely walked away from the China-US cybersecurity agreement reached in 2015. The existing consensus between China and the US in cyberspace has changed radically.

CCTV: According to the report, NSA launched cyber attacks on China via springboards and proxy servers in education institutions and private companies located in 17 countries, most of which are China’s neighbors including Japan and the ROK. In recent years, the US has also beefed up cybersecurity cooperation with China’s neighboring countries. What is your view on this?

Wang Lei: In recent years, the US has been insistently seeking after cyber military presence around China's neighboring countries in the name of “cybersecurity cooperation”. China’s position on this issue is very clear. We believe that what the US has been doing poses severe damage to China’s security interests. In fact, there are similarities between this issue and the US seeking to deploy intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles and missile defense systems in China’s neighborhood. The US claims that these activities are “defensive” in nature and that it is helping relevant countries to improve their cyber defensive capabilities. However, it is the customary trick of the US to muddy the waters and fish for arbitrage. China believes that the neighboring countries would have their own judgment about the real intention of US actions. 

CCTV: Recently we have seen growing instability in global cybersecurity arena, and cyberspace is evolving into a new battlefield of geopolitical conflicts. Head of US Cyber Command has publicly admitted that the US had conducted “offensive hacking operations” against Russia during the Ukraine crisis, while at the same time the US insisted that it would not directly engage in this crisis. What is your take on this?

Wang Lei: In our view, it seems that the US is exploiting the Ukraine crisis to conduct a dangerous experiment. They are confident of having all consequences of cyber attacks under control as they possess the most powerful cyber military capability in the world. But in reality, things will not always play out following the US script. In case of misjudgment, the situation is highly likely to escalate or even get out of control. Such behavior of the US is extremely dangerous and irresponsible.

The US should never expect to harm the security interests of others without taking any accountability, and should never expect to unilaterally define the boundaries and rules of cyber operations depending on its strength.

If the US insists on “US exceptionalism” or “ US first”, and refuses to take reasonable actions nor abide by any international rules, cyberspace may eventually turn into a “jungle world”. This is not in line with the common interests of the international community.

That being said, we still believe that China and the US share common interests in maintaining peace and stability in cyberspace. We hope that the US will join China in assuming our due international responsibilities as major countries, upholding the existing international system, observing common rules, and working together to build a peaceful, secure, open and cooperative cyberspace through dialogue and consultation on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefits.