An angry China is demanding the United States clarify and explain whether intelligence agencies did in fact hack into the email services of technology giant Huawei.
Chinese authorities also want to know if America’s spy agencies looked at private information of the nation’s top government officials and facilities, The Associated Press reported.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei expressed Beijing’s deep concerns about the matter on Monday and said if the charges are true, U.S. surveillance and hacking activities in China should come to an immediate halt.
The outcry from China came after Der Spiegel, a weekly newspaper in Germany, as well as The New York Times reported that the National Security Agency had been looking into the tech giant for years, as based on leaker Edward Snowden’s document dumps, AP reported.
The German outlet also reported that American authorities were especially interested in tapping former President Hu Jintao’s information — as well as hacking the nation’s top government ministries and banks.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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