On September 4, The Financial Times quoted U.S. officials as saying that China's military hackers had penetrated a Pentagon computer network on the U.S. defense department in June, in the most successful cyber attack. Chinese authorities denied the allegations, claiming instead that it had also often fallen prey to hackers.
International media published a number of reports on how Chinese hackers, allegedly part of China's People's Liberation Army, had attacked U.S. Pentagon system, British government networks, German and French government computers.
Chinese military hackers have developed a detailed plan to cripple America's aircraft battle carrier fleet with a devastating cyber attack, according to a Pentagon report obtained by The Times.
Based on the report, Beijing planned to achieve "electronic dominance" over each of its global rivals by 2050, particularly the U.S., Britain, Russia and South Korea. The intended cyber attack on U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups is part of this aggressive planning.
The report revealed further analysis of Chinese military documents and generals' speeches by U.S. intelligence officials, which concludes that the Chinese communist regime seeks offensive computer operations, aiming to disrupt its enemy's military, financial, and communications capabilities early in a conflict. The Pentagon states that in this new kind of arms race, the Chinese military regards hacker attacks as critical to achieve dominance in the first stage of a war.
In response to the alleged Chinese hacker attack, on September 4, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu condemned related reports as "groundless." According to Jiang, hacking is a global issue, of which China often finds itself the victim. China is ready to "strengthen cooperation with other countries in countering Internet crimes," she said.
Chinese commentator, Wu Fan, said that since 2003, there have been reports of the Chinese military hacking into the computer systems of several Western governments. The exposure of this recent hacker attack has alerted the West to the serious threat the Chinese regime poses, leading many to reconsider its opinion of the country.
Regarding the response made by China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Chinese political and financial commentator Caoan Jushi, Vice Chairman and CEO of the Pan-America Capital, Inc., indicated that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has never admitted their wrongdoing. "The fact is that the CCP's military has launched cyber attacks on many countries, including the U.S. and Germany," said Caoan Jushi.
Caoan Jushi believes that the cyberattack toward the U.S. was careless. "If the U.S. launched a counterattack, China's computer systems and networks could be disrupted," he explained.
"The CCP has been seeking to match forces through computer network attacks in order to secure a victory over the U.S.," said Commentator Wu, adding that the CCP's arms buildup is far from meeting U.S defenses.
But why start a conflict in the first place? Wu believes that the CCP considers the U.S. its most competent enemy, not only because of its ambition to emerge as a superpower, but also because the U.S. represents the Western ideology of freedom and justice. "As the axis of evil, China will undoubtedly direct its spear at the U.S.," he added.
The Pentagon admitted having shut down the computer system that served U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates. While they declined to explain who was responsible, Pentagon officials said that they had already located "the exact source of the attack."
According to the weekly magazine Der Spiegel, the German intelligence officials found spy programs that Chinese military hackers had infiltrated into the German government's computer systems. German experts traced the connection and said the attacks came from members of the Chinese military.
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