Blinken tells China that US will hold spying hackers ‘accountable’

JAKARTA – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told China’s top diplomat on Thursday that Washington will hold hackers accountable after he raised alleged breaches of US government agencies, a US official said.

Mr Blinken, in talks in Jakarta with Mr Wang Yi, “made clear that any action that targets US government, US companies, American citizens, is of deep concern to us and that we will take appropriate action to hold those responsible accountable”, a senior US official said.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Mr Blinken raised the new cases but stopped short of saying whether Washington’s top diplomat directly accused China of involvement.

Microsoft said this week a Chinese hacking group gained access to nearly 25 organisations with the goal of espionage.

Mr Blinken and Wang were meeting on the sidelines of talks by the Association of South-east Asian Nations, less than a month after Mr Blinken made a rare trip to Beijing.

Despite a new flurry of diplomacy between the world’s two largest economies, the United States has failed to persuade China to resume communication between their two militaries, seen as crucial in preventing incidents from spiralling into all-out conflict.

Mr Blinken “underscored (that) we have a responsibility to keep our channels of communication open, including between our two militaries”, another US official said.

“I think it’s urgent that we do so. We haven’t achieved that yet,” he said.

China has demanded that the US lift sanctions on its defence minister, Mr Li Shangfu, which were imposed over weapons purchases from US adversary Russia.

Officials said Mr Blinken also spoke to China about ways to combat precursor chemicals that make fentanyl, the synthetic opioid behind an addiction epidemic in the US. REUTERS