FILE PHOTO: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang takes a question from a journalist during the daily press briefing of the Foreign Ministry in Beijing, China, March 18, 2020. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo
BEIJING (Reuters) – China said on Friday that cyber attacks against institutions fighting the coronavirus pandemic should be condemned around the world.
Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang made the remarks in response to a question about a report by the U.S. cybersecurity firm FireEye that Vietnamese government-linked hackers had attempted to break into the personal and professional email accounts of staff at China’s Ministry of Emergency Management and the government of Wuhan, the Chinese city where the virus emerged last year.
Vietnam’s foreign ministry called the report “baseless” on Thursday. Geng did not directly comment on whether such attacks against Chinese officials had occurred.
Reporting by Tom Daly; writing by Se Young Lee; Editing by Kevin Liffey