The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that hackers linked to Beijing breached the email account of U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns in a spying operation believed to have compromised at least hundreds of thousands of emails from individuals in the U.S. government. The report cites informed sources stating that the email account of Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink was also targeted in the broader espionage operation, which was announced by Microsoft earlier this month.
In a statement to Reuters, Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said, "China firmly opposes cyber attacks and theft in all forms and fights against them. This stance is firm and clear." He added, "Identifying the source of cyber attacks is a complex technical issue. We hope relevant parties will adopt a professional and responsible attitude instead of launching unfounded speculations and accusations."
