Achi news desk-
The UK on Monday accused China of launching cyber attacks on the Electoral Commission and parliamentarians between 2021 and 2022.
“It is completely unacceptable that organizations and individuals linked to the Chinese state have targeted our democratic institutions and political processes,” Foreign Minister David Cameron said on X.
“I raised this directly with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and we have today sanctioned two individuals and one entity involved in a Chinese state-linked group responsible for targeting our parliamentarians,” he added.
The British government said it had assessed that the UK Electoral Commission’s systems were highly likely to be compromised by a Chinese state-linked entity between 2021 and 2022.
“It is almost certain that the Chinese state-linked Advanced Persistent Threat Group 31 (APT31) carried out reconnaissance activity against UK parliamentarians during a separate campaign in 2021. The majority of those targeted were conspicuous in their calls for activity malignant China. No parliamentary accounts were successfully compromised,” he said in a statement.
It marks the latest example in a discernible pattern of malicious cyber activity by Chinese state-linked organizations and individuals targeting democratic institutions and parliamentarians not only in the UK but also beyond.
The British Foreign Office summoned the Chinese ambassador to the UK and approved a front company and two individuals who are members of APT31.
In response, the Chinese Embassy in the UK issued a statement.
“The UK is falsifying facts, hyping the so-called China threat, and making irresponsible comments on China’s internal affairs. We strongly oppose this.
“China is committed to an independent foreign peace policy and follows a path of peaceful development…In stark contrast, while following in the footsteps of the United States, the UK is continually sowing discord and starting trouble in Asia and the The Pacific, which is the real source of challenges and disruptions to peace and stability in the region,” he added.
“Issues related to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Xinjiang are China’s internal affairs, which do not cause any external interference.
“We urge the UK side to stop stirring up conflict and competition, stop sniffing China and interfering in China’s internal affairs, and stop creating obstacles to the development of China-UK relations,” he said.
