Clinton: China is trying to 'hack into everything that doesn't move'
At a holiday weekend event in New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton warned that the U.S. must be "fully vigilant," since China is "trying to hack into everything that doesn't move in America." On Monday, China caught wind of Clinton's accusation and simply shrugged it off. The country apparently wasn't too concerned that the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination was spreading the rumor that it was "stealing commercial secrets, blueprints from defense contractors, stealing huge amounts of government information — all looking for an advantage."
Beijing's seemingly blasé response to the accusations was a departure from reactions past. Previously, China has been outraged at U.S. claims that it supports information hacks. This time, however, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying simply said, "China and the U.S. have taken a constructive spirit and approach to strengthening dialog and cooperation to jointly face various challenges in line with the interests of both sides in a way that is conducive to peace and prosperity in the region and the world."
Clinton's remarks come just three months after the U.S. government discovered a federal database breach that is believed to have disclosed 18 million Social Security numbers. The U.S. government suspects that China is responsible for the attack.
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