BEIJING: Beijing denounced on Wednesday (Dec 10) British sanctions on two Chinese companies which London alleged were involved in cyber activities against Britain, saying the measure amounted to "political manipulation" of security issues.
The British Foreign Office sanctioned on Tuesday Chinese-based companies i-Soon and Integrity Technology Group "for their vast and indiscriminate cyberactivities against the UK and its allies", according to London's top diplomat Yvette Cooper.
Several Russian entities were also sanctioned over accusations of distorting information in favour of Moscow.
Beijing's foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a regular press conference that "China expresses strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to the UK's practice of using cybersecurity issues for political manipulation."
The government had lodged "stern representations" with British representatives in Beijing and London, Guo said.
A British Foreign Office policy paper released alongside the list of new sanctions said that cyber and information warfare was posing an increasing threat.
Foreign Secretary Cooper said that the activities London accuses i-Soon and Integrity of conducting "impact our collective security and our public services, yet those responsible operate with little regard for who or what they target".
"And so we are ensuring that such reckless activity does not go unchecked," she said.
- 'Hybrid threats' -
"Across Europe, we are witnessing an escalation in hybrid threats -- from physical through to cyber and information warfare -- designed to destabilise our democracies, weaken our critical national infrastructure, and undermine our interests, all for the advantage of malign foreign states," said the Foreign Office policy paper paper.
Among the entities hit by the new sanctions is Russian media outlet Rybar "whose Telegram channel and network of affiliates in 28 languages reaches millions worldwide", said Cooper.
It used "classic Kremlin manipulation tactics, including fake 'investigations' and AI driven content to shape narratives about global events in the Kremlin's favour", she added.
"Masquerading as an independent body," Rybar is partially funded by Russia's presidential administration, receives funding from state corporations and has worked with Russian intelligence, she said.
Also sanctioned is the Pravfond Foundation, which has been accused of being a front for Russian GRU foreign intelligence agency.
"Leaked reports suggest that Pravfond finances the promotion of Kremlin narratives to Western audiences as well as bankrolling legal defences for convicted Russian assassins and arms traffickers," Cooper said.
Alexander Dugin, a nationalist Russian philosopher widely thought to have influenced much of President Vladimir Putin's thinking, was also sanctioned along with his think tank, the Centre for Geopolitical Expertise.
Dugin has most notably championed "neo-Eurasianism", a doctrine that says Russia must liberate the world from Western excesses by building an empire stretching from Europe to Asia. - AFP
