US Should Explain Cyber Spying; China Demands

China has demanded that the US explain its "large-scale and organized cyber spying and phone tapping activities" to the international community.

The USA should explain as soon as possible, rather than making irresponsible accusations, China’s Ministry of Defense told global Times on Thursday.

China's Ministry of National Defense retaliated to a Western media report on the Chinese military's alleged involvement in a cyber attack on a US-based website, calling it "groundless."

The ministry's remarks came in response to a Financial Times report on Wednesday, which said that the FBI is looking into whether the Chinese military was involved in a cyber attack on register.com.

"China firmly opposes any type of cyber attack and punishes such crimes in accordance with the law. The Chinese military has never been involved in any hacking activity to steal business secrets," the ministry said.

Register.com manages more than 2.5 million domain names of businesses worldwide and also provides web management and design services.

Cyber attacks are a universal problem and China is also facing serious online threats, the ministry stressed. "China is one of the major victims of cyber attack," the ministry noted.

According to the Financial Times, the hackers have gained access to register.com's network for about a year, but the attack did not disrupt or result in the theft of client data.