UK imposes sanctions following China-backed cyber attack

The UK government has formally accused China of being behind what it described as a “malicious” cyber campaign against members of parliament and the Electoral Commission.

Two people and one company were sanctioned for the cyber attack.

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said they were behind attempts to access details of MPs and colleagues critical of the Chinese government.

China has consistently denied accusations of espionage and wrongdoing.

The two Chinese nationals targeted by the sanctions are Zhao Guangzong and Ni Gaobin, who work for Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Technology Co., Ltd., and work for the Chinese government-affiliated cyber espionage group APT31.

British sanctions freeze assets and prohibit British nationals and companies from handling funds or resources. The travel ban will also prevent them from entering or staying in the UK.

Mr Dowden said: “The UK will not tolerate malicious cyber activity.”

“Defending our democratic institutions and values ​​is an absolute priority for the UK Government.”

Mr Dowden said the Chinese ambassador was being summoned to “hold China accountable for its actions in these incidents”.

The cyber attack on the Electoral Commission between August 2021 and October 2022 was one of the most serious in UK history.

As well as a database containing people's names and addresses, confidential emails from its “administration system” and between election managers across six by-elections were also accessed.

But Mr Dowden said he wanted to reassure people that attacks on electoral rolls “typically pose no risk to those affected”.

Former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, former minister Tim Laughton and SNP's Stewart Macdonald have all been accused of harassment, failed hacks and impersonation by groups seeking to influence foreign dignitaries. suffered damage.

Mr McDonald said the response from the UK was like entering a “wooden spoon gunfight”.

All three MPs are calling on the UK to go further and send a clear message by labeling China a “threat”.

The United States has done just that, announcing that two fellow Chinese nationals are among a group of seven people facing criminal charges in New York for conspiracy to commit computer intrusion and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

A statement from U.S. prosecutors said they were a hacker group that spent nearly 14 years targeting critics of the Chinese government in the U.S. and elsewhere, and a “malicious cyber attack designed to threaten the national security of the U.S. and its allies.” He was said to have been involved in the operation. .

New Zealand authorities have also accused China of targeting the country's parliamentary networks in 2021, with the country's Defense Minister Judith Collins saying a Chinese state-backed group known as APT40 was behind the hacking operation. .

But New Zealand said it would not introduce sanctions as this was not part of the government's legislative agenda.

Australia said its electoral system had not been compromised in the cyber attack targeting the UK, but expressed concern at what it saw as a “persistent targeting of democratic institutions and processes”.

“This behavior is unacceptable and must stop. Australia calls on all countries to act responsibly in cyberspace,” Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Home Affairs and Cybersecurity Minister Claire O'Neill said in a joint statement. said.

Sir Ian described the Deputy Prime Minister's comments as “like an elephant giving birth to a mouse” and called for further sanctions against Chinese officials.

But he also said the announcement was “a turning point in the UK's commitment to human rights and the international rules-based system”.

He said a militant supporter of the Chinese government known as the “Wolf Warrior” had been impersonating him and sending emails falsely suggesting that he had changed his views on the Chinese government.

China should be placed in the “enhanced tier” of the new Foreign Influence Register, which would increase scrutiny of Chinese state-backed activities in the UK.

Sir Ian said: “The West must wake up to the fact that this is a challenge to our very way of life.

“For our beliefs in democracy, human rights, freedom of expression and freedom of religion.

“These are things we value, but we don't seem to have any of those virtues or values ​​and want to protect them from other people who would try to take what's ours.”

Sir Ian and Mr Laughton were among nine British nationals sanctioned by China for exposing human rights abuses against the Uyghur Muslim minority.

Laughton warned that China is “trying to influence elections and even democracy.”

“We need stronger action to show China that this is absolutely unacceptable, that there are consequences, and that they will be followed through. But right now, we don't have them.”

Labor said it would support the government against state actors who seek to “interfere with or undermine the electoral process”.

Dowden credited the Democracy Defense Task Force, a committee that tracks election threats, with accurately identifying the China-linked organizations and individuals behind the cyber operation.

Sanctions on groups linked to fellow United Nations Security Council member China have heightened diplomatic tensions between the two countries.

The Prime Minister at the time was David Cameron, who is currently the Foreign Secretary.

On Monday, Lord Cameron briefed around 40 Conservative MPs and MPs for about an hour during a backbench meeting of the 1922 Committee, in what one person described as a “world tour”.

Several MPs suggested that the UK's decision to vote in favor of a UN Security Council resolution on Gaza was more heavily discussed than relations with China during the last meeting before the Easter recess.

Outside the meeting, one MP told reporters that Cameron suggested things had changed since he promoted policies to increase engagement with China as prime minister.

But Labor also said Cameron's role as deputy governor of the Anglo-China investment fund should also be investigated in case he is chosen “to give confidence to Chinese investment and the broader China brand”. said.

The UK government is increasingly concerned about Chinese espionage and interference in parliament.

The Electoral Commission acknowledged the attack last August, saying an “adversary” had accessed a copy of the electoral register and infiltrated emails and “administrative systems”, but said it had no control over the election or anyone's registration status. added that there was no impact.

Since then, the Election Commission has taken steps to protect the system from future activity.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said the government is cracking down on and punishing all kinds of malicious cyber activities.

He called on all parties to “stop spreading false information and adopt a responsible attitude to jointly maintain peace and security in cyberspace.”

The government has emphasized that in recent years it has rejected or reduced Chinese infrastructure investment on national security grounds.