China rejects New Zealand's accusation that it was behind a cyber attack on its parliament

Beijing strongly rejected New Zealand's allegations, which accused a Chinese-backed cyber group of targeting its parliament in 2021, stressing that Wellington's claims were "unfounded."

This came in a statement published by the Chinese Embassy in Wellington after New Zealand's Minister of Government Communications Protection, Judith Collins, said on Tuesday that the New Zealand Cyber ​​Security Agency linked a "state-backed" Chinese group to a cyber attack targeting parliamentary services.

The New Zealand Minister confirmed that the Cyber ​​Security Agency "succeeded in repelling the attack and paralyzing the cyber group's ability to cause any harm to the country."

Later, New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said that on his instructions, officials from the ministry held a meeting with the Chinese ambassador, during which they expressed their concerns about the incident. Peters said such interference from abroad was "unacceptable" and called on China to "refrain" from it in the future.

The New Zealand accusation came after the British government accused organizations “linked to Beijing” of being behind two “malicious” electronic campaigns that targeted the Electoral Commission and parliamentarians in Britain, a few months before the scheduled legislative elections in the United Kingdom.

London attached its accusation to Beijing of imposing sanctions and summoning the Chinese ambassador.

The New Zealand government announced that it "stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation" of Chinese cyber activities.

The Chinese Embassy in Wellington said it "categorically rejects these irresponsible and baseless accusations," adding that it had lodged a strong protest with the New Zealand authorities, expressing its "strong dissatisfaction and objection."

The Chinese statement indicated that cybersecurity is a global issue, and the issue of tracking cyberattacks is very complex and sensitive, and that “when investigating and classifying cyber incidents, one should rely on sufficient objective evidence, not defame and slander other countries without a realistic basis, and not politicize cybersecurity issues.” .

The diplomatic mission noted that China, as one of the main victims of cyber attacks, always stands firmly against any form of them and confronts them in accordance with the law.