China denies "groundless" cyber spying accusations; "Opposes malicious speculations"

China denies the Netherlands’ accusations that a Chinese state actor tried to conduct a cyber espionage campaign on the Dutch Ministry of Defense. “China opposes any malicious speculations and groundless accusations,” the Chinese Embassy in the Netherlands said in a statement.

“China firmly opposes and cracks down on cyber attacks in all forms in accordance with the law. We will not allow any country or individual using Chinese infrastructure in such illegal activities,” the embassy said.

“Cyber security is a common challenge of all countries,” the Chinese embassy said. “We uphold and jointly safeguard cyber security through dialogue and cooperation.”

On Tuesday, the Dutch Ministry of Defense announced that the military intelligence service MIVD found advanced Chinese malware on an isolated computer network of the Dutch military last year. According to the MIVD, China uses the malware, which it named Coathanger, to spy on computer networks.

Because the system the malware was found on was isolated, it did not lead to damage to the Dutch Defense Network, the Ministry said. “It is important to attribute such espionage activities to China,” said Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren. “This is how we increase international resilience against this type of cyberespionage.”