Mr.Chair,
China would like to exercise the right to reply in response to the statement made by the United States delegation at this 10th session of the UN Open-ended Working Group on Security of and in the Use of ICTs.
First, China firmly rejects the unjustified accusations without any evidence made by the US delegation against China, and condemns US irresponsible and blatant spreading of disinformation at the UN.
Second, with respect to cyber security, China discovers that the US has carried out long-lasting, systematic and large scale cyber attacks against China, including cyber espionage as well as cyber attacks that jeopardize China's critical infrastructure in such areas as telecommunication,finance and transportation.
China's cyber security agencies have identified that the US government has carried out above-mentioned attacks against China through two APT organizations,namely APT-C-39 and APT-C-40. As President Xi Jinping has put it, we have concerns over the US on the issue of cyber security.
Third, the US representative claimed in her statement that it is imminent that the US and China will have a conflict.This is a malicious misinterpretation of China's policy. China hopes that the US representative would make a clarification whether your statement implies that the US is prepared to intervene in the Taiwan Strait situation by force? We solemnly warn the US side that Taiwan is China's Taiwan, and China firmly opposes the US in using cyber issues to interfere in China's internal affairs.On the Taiwan issue, it will be futile for the US whatever cards it plays.
Fourth,the US is not only seriously jeopardizing China's cyber security, but is also the most significant cyber threat to the entire world. The previous Snowden Incident uncovered the fact that the US has carried out indiscriminate cyber espionage against the whole world, including it's own allies. At this session, all parties are much concerned about the security of critical infrastructure. But China would like to remind you that the Stuxnet Incident back in 2008 was the first well-known case of a cyber attack on another country's critical infrastructure. In China's previous statement, we made reference to a certain country's claim that other countries' critical infrastructure is legitimate target of cyber attacks, which is precisely a notorious quote from the head of US Cyber Command. The US claimed that China has pre-positioned in its critical infrastructure. This is nothing but a baseless accusation that falls short of proof.At the same time,China would like to ask the US: are you willing to make a commitment to the world that the US has never pre-positioned in the critical infrastructure of other countries? Given the above mentioned facts, China suggests that the US representative ask herself the question of whether the US has done what it has asked of others, before making any statement on unjustified accusations against other countries next time.
Finally, although we have had serious concerns for many years about the malicious cyber operations of the US, China has always exercised restraint when it comes to publicly naming the US at the United Nations. Since the US has taken the first move of public provocation, China feels compelled to reciprocate. In the future, China will explain extensively to the whole world the malicious cyber activities of the US on occasions and agenda that we assume suitable,so that the irresponsible conduct of the US will be brought to light before the whole world.
I thank you.
(\*On February 17,2025,MFA Coordinator for Cyber and Digital Affairs Wang Lei exercised right to reply in response to US remarks concerning China at the 10th substantive session of the United Nations Open-ended Working Group on Security of and in the Use of ICTs.)