China has been unfairly blamed for cyberattacks

A map of China is seen through a magnifying glass on a computer screen showing binary digits in Singapore, in this January 2, 2014 file illustration photo. Security researchers have many names for the hacking group that is one of the suspects for the cyberattack on the U.S. government's Office of Personnel Management: PinkPanther, KungFu Kittens, Group 72 and, most famously, Deep Panda. But to Jared Myers and colleagues at cybersecurity company RSA, it is called Shell Crew, and Myers' team is one of the few who has watched it mid-assault — and eventually repulsed it. Myers' account of a months-long battle with the group illustrates the challenges governments and companies face in defending against hackers that researchers believe are linked to the Chinese government - a charge Beijing denies. To match story CYBERSECURITY-USA/DEEP-PANDA REUTERS/Edgar Su/Files (Edgar Su/Reuters)

Several articles and editorials in The Post, including "U.S. not naming China in data hack" [front page, July 22] and "The cyber defense crisis" [editorial, July 12], unfairly blamed the Chinese government for cyberattacks in the United States. The Chinese government firmly opposes and combats all forms of cyberattacks in accordance with our laws and regulations.

China is one of the world's major victims of cyberattacks, and many of them originate from the United States. According to China's National Computer Emergency Response Technical Team Coordination Center, from March 19, 2014, to May 18, 2014, for instance, 2,077 Trojan horse networks or botnet servers in the United States directly controlled 1.18 million host computers in China, and 135 host computers in the United States carrying 563 phishing pages targeted Chinese Web sites and led to 14,000 phishing operations.

Cyberattacks across borders are very complex and hard to trace. Therefore, combating such activities requires closer international cooperation and formulating international rules and norms to govern behaviors in cyberspace. This is where the interest of China and the United States aligns. We can accomplish much more by working together than apart. Making unfounded accusations and resorting to megaphone diplomacy is counterproductive. And there is no place in this solution for double standards.

Zhu Haiquan, Washington

The writer is spokesman for the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China.