"The cyber threat posed by China affiliated actors is real and it is serious, but it is more than equalled by our determination and resolve to resist it," the UK deputy prime minister said.
ADVERTISEMENT"State-affiliated" Chinese actors have been involved in two cyber attacks in the United Kingdom, according to the country's deputy prime minister.
Oliver Dowden said on Monday the two incidents in 2021 and 2022 involved an attack on the Electoral Commission, which oversees elections and political finance, as well as another attack aimed at lawmakers who were outspoken about the China threat.
In a speech in the UK parliament, Dowden told British ministers: "The cyber threat posed by China-affiliated actors is real and it is serious, but it is more than equalled by our determination and resolve to resist it".
"That is how we defend ourselves and our precious democracy".
The US and British governments announced sanctions against a company and two people linked to the Chinese government over the cyberattacks targeting the UK's election watchdog and lawmakers.
'No impact on electoral processes'
The Foreign Office said the hack of the election registers “has not had an impact on electoral processes, has not affected the rights or access to the democratic process of any individual, nor has it affected electoral registration.”
The Electoral Commission said in August that it identified a breach of its system in October 2022, though it added that “hostile actors” had first been able to access its servers in 2021.
At the time, the watchdog said the data included the names and addresses of registered voters. But it said that much of the information was already in the public domain.
Three lawmakers, including former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith, told reporters Monday they have been "subjected to harassment, impersonation and attempted hacking from China for some time".
Duncan Smith said in one example, hackers impersonating him used fake email addresses to write to his contacts.
The politicians are members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, an international pressure group focused on countering Beijing's growing influence and calling out alleged rights abuses by the Chinese government.
Ahead of that announcement, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reiterated that China is “behaving in an increasingly assertive way abroad” and is “the greatest state-based threat to our economic security".
“It’s right that we take measures to protect ourselves, which is what we are doing," he said, without providing details.
China critics including Duncan Smith have long called for Sunak to take a tougher stance on China and label the country a threat — rather than a “challenge” — to the UK, but the government has refrained from using such critical language.
Responding to the reports, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said countries should base their claims on evidence rather than “smear” others without factual basis.
“Cybersecurity issues should not be politicised,” ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said. “We hope all parties will stop spreading false information, take a responsible attitude, and work together to maintain peace and security in cyberspace”.
