China has denied responsibility for alleged cyberattacks in the US appearing to target exiled tycoon Guo Wengui (郭文貴), who has levelled corruption allegations against senior Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials and applied for political asylum.
In a statement provided to reporters yesterday, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security said an investigation had found “no evidence” of Chinese government involvement in the alleged cyberattacks.
The agency said China had also provided the US government with evidence that Guo, who has applied for political asylum in the US, fabricated documents used to support his claims. It said China would make an official request for US authorities to investigate the matter.
“The falsified official documents and the false information he fabricated are sensational and outrageous,” the ministry said in a rare English-language statement.
Guo did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Washington-based Hudson Institute think tank was scheduled to host Guo on Wednesday in a rare public appearance, but cancelled the event the day before without explanation.
The event would have coincided with the visit of an official Chinese delegation to the US capital for a high-level law enforcement and cybersecurity dialogue between the two countries.
The Hudson Institute said it had detected a Shanghai-based attack aimed at shutting down access to its Web site several days earlier.
The suspected attack prompted a complaint from US Attorney General Jeff Sessions during a meeting with Chinese Minister of Public Security Guo Shengkun (郭聲琨) on Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The New York-based Guo applied for US political asylum last month, but said last week that the law firm representing him, Clark Hill PLC, had backed out after being targeted by Chinese hackers.
After his Hudson event was called off, Guo held a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington on Thursday where he produced what he claimed were “top-secret” official documents showing China had sent secret agents into the US.
The ministry said the documents shown by Guo were “clumsily forged” and “full of obvious mistakes.”
Guo has made wideranging corruption allegations against senior CCP leaders via a daily stream of Twitter and YouTube posts since the start of the year, which he says are aimed at disrupting the CCP’s 19th National Congress, which begins next week.
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