Q: On 18 July, the Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs issued a declaration on behalf of the Belgian Government, accusing Chinese actors of undertaking “malicious cyber activities” targeting the FPS Interior and the Belgian Defence and urging the Chinese side to take actions. What is your comment on this?

A: We have noted the above mentioned declaration. It is highly unserious and irresponsible for the Belgian side to issue a declaration on the so-called “malicious cyber activities” by Chinese actors without any evidence. The Belgian side has made ill-founded accusations and slanders against China while refusing to provide any proof. We hereby express our strong indignation and resolute rejection.

China has been open and aboveboard on the issue of cyber security. China has always been a firm supporter of cyber security, and is one of the main victims of cyber attacks. It is reported by China's National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team that about 52,000 malicious program command and control servers located outside China took control of about 5.31 million computer hosts in China in 2020, causing serious harm to China's national security, economic and social development, and people's daily work and life. China has firmly opposed and fought cyber attacks in any form. It makes no sense for China to encourage, endorse or connive at hacker attacks. Given the virtual nature, difficulty in tracing and variety of actors in the cyber space, it is important to have complete, full evidence when investigating and defining cyber incidents. To make unwarranted accusations of other countries without hard proof and to politicize and stigmatize the cyber security issue will not help to improve cyber security, but rather weaken mutual trust and affect normal cooperation in this area between countries. If the Belgian side can launch willful accusations against other countries, does it mean other countries can also take the guess that cyber attacks targeting them are participated by Belgian hackers?

Cyber security is a global issue. It bears on the common interests of all countries and requires international efforts to safeguard. China holds the view that the international community needs to uphold security in cyber space through dialogue and cooperation on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit. We stand ready to work with all sides to build a community with a shared future in the digital world. In September 2020, China proposed a Global Initiative on Data Security. One of the key points of this initiative is opposing using ICT activities to impair other States' critical infrastructure or steal important data. We hope that Belgium and other countries will participate in this initiative, make a clear commitment to cyber security, and work jointly to build a peaceful, secure, open and cooperative cyber space.