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28 March 2024

China pledges to punish hackers

We never support hacking because China also falls victim to hacking Miao Wei, Vice-Minister, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. (EB FILE)

Published
By Reuters

China has pledged to punish hackers who attacked Google if there is evidence to prove it, but said it has yet to receive any complaint from the top search engine.

Google sent shockwaves across business and political circles in January when it declared it would stop censoring Chinese search results, and threatened to pull out of China – the world's largest online community with 384 million users at the end of last year – over hacking and censorship concerns. Google had never filed a report to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology over the cyber attacks or sought negotiations, Vice-Minister Miao Wei was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

"If Google has had evidence that the attacks came from China, the Chinese Government will welcome them to provide the information and will severely punish the offenders according to the law," Miao said.

"We never support hacking attacks because China also falls victim to hacking attacks," he said. Google also never informed the ministry that it was planning to withdraw from China, Miao added, speaking on the sidelines of the session of parliament.

"If Google decides to continue its business in China and abides by China's laws, it's welcome to stay," he said, vowing to continue providing a sound investment environment for foreign investors and protect their legitimate rights.

"If the company chooses to withdraw from the Chinese market, it must go through certain procedures according to the law and regulations and deal with customers' problems that may arise."

Last Friday Minister of Industry and Information Technology Li Yizhong said China was in consultations with Google to resolve the issue. Li did not elaborate.

The hacking issue made headlines again in February after reports in the media that the attacks had been traced to two schools in China, and the writer of the spyware used had been identified as a security consultant in his 30s with government links.

 

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