Source: AFP
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Monday that the United Kingdom will do whatever is necessary to protect itself from a cyberattack from China, as hackers linked to Beijing are expected to be blamed for recent security breaches.
Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden is due to make a statement about the hacks at the Electoral Commission and Parliament at 15:30 (15:30 GMT).
Those behind the hacks are expected to face sanctions.
Sunak was tough on China when he made his bid to become leader of the ruling Conservative party in 2022, but has since softened his stance while in office.
He said Monday that the government had “invested significantly” in capabilities and tools to protect the country, calling China “an economic threat to our security and an era-defining challenge.”
“We will always do whatever it takes to keep our country safe,” he told the BBC.
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The Electoral Commission breach in August 2021 compromised the personal details of around 40 million UK voters.
Four MPs who have repeatedly called for tougher measures against China were also called to a security briefing after the attacks.
Conservative MP Iain Duncan Smith, one of those targeted, said Beijing should be labeled a threat to the UK.
Source: AFP
“We must now enter a new era of relations with China, dealing with the modern Chinese Communist Party as it really is, not as we would like it to be,” he told a press conference on Monday.
“Today’s announcement should mark a watershed moment where the UK takes a stand for human rights values ββand the international rules-based system on which we all depend.”
Refusal
Duncan Smith was one of several UK MPs to be sanctioned by China in 2021 over his criticism of alleged human rights abuses of the Uyghur minority and pressure on rights in Hong Kong.
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He said the UK had suffered “harassment, impersonation and attempted piracy” from China for some time.
Source: AFP
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian on Monday rejected the claims, saying Beijing was “resolute” to curb and destroy “all kinds of malicious cyber activities”.
“The issue of detecting cyberattacks is extremely complex and sensitive,” he added.
“In investigating and determining the nature of cyber incidents, there should be plenty of objective evidence, rather than slandering other countries without a factual basis, let alone politicizing cybersecurity issues.”
The UK has for several years been locked in a growing row with Beijing over its crackdown on civil and human rights in China and the former British colony of Hong Kong.
Ties have been further strained by the UK blocking access to Chinese companies to key British infrastructure projects, including nuclear and IT.
Last year a UK parliamentary researcher was arrested under the Official Secrets Act on charges of spying for China.
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In 2022, the UK’s domestic intelligence agency, MI5, said a female Chinese government agent had “engaged in political interference activities on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party, which had members here in parliament”.
Source: AFP
In July this year, parliament’s intelligence and security committee accused China of targeting the UK “proliferatively and aggressively” and complained that the government did not have “the resources, expertise or knowledge” to deal with it.
China has consistently denied accusations of espionage and other wrongdoing.
Source: AFP