Beijing rejected accusations on Tuesday that a Chinese state-sponsored hacking group was responsible for breaching the U.S. Treasury Department, calling the claims “false” and “unfounded.”
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters in Beijing that the allegations were unsupported by evidence. “China has always opposed all forms of hacking attacks, and we are even more opposed to the dissemination of false information targeting China for political purposes,” she said in response to a report from The New York Times.
The report, citing sources familiar with the incident, claimed that a Chinese hacking group had infiltrated the U.S. Treasury, accessing government workstations and unclassified documents.
A letter from the U.S. Treasury Department to U.S. lawmakers had earlier attributed the breach to a Chinese state-sponsored Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actor, noting that a security key was used to remotely access certain systems.
However, Treasury officials said the compromised service had since been taken offline and that there was no evidence the hackers retained access to any U.S. Treasury information.
Despite China’s denial of involvement, this breach is part of a broader pattern of cyber incidents linked to China, including a recent attack on U.S. telecom networks.
However, China underscored its commitment to working with the U.S. on cybersecurity, emphasizing its willingness to engage in cooperative efforts to address such threats.