House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) once again blasted Secretary of State Antony Blinken for traveling to Beijing last month amid revelations from the State Department that suspected Chinese hackers accessed official government emails.
“The State Department knew Communist China was carrying out an extensive hacking campaign to collect intelligence against the United States,” Stefanik told Fox News Digital in a statement, “yet Secretary Blinken still went to Beijing, legitimizing the CCP’s aggressive behaviors in the process.”
“This is unacceptable,” she said, “and exactly why I called for the cancellation of Secretary Blinken’s trip.”
As BizPac Review reported, the Commerce and State Departments confirmed that, beginning in May, some of its senior officials’ email accounts were hacked by a Chinese-based group – dubbed “Storm-0558” by Microsoft – which carried out a months-long cyber attack affecting roughly 25 global organizations.
Blinken was scheduled to visit China in February to meet with President Xi Jinping, but the trip was delayed following the spy balloon incident.
Trying to salvage Blinken trip to China, Biden admin reportedly tried to conceal CCP spy balloon for DAYS https://t.co/U8rvT481KN pic.twitter.com/rWt1QLSkHS
— BizPac Review (@BIZPACReview) February 6, 2023
Blinken left for Beijing on June 16, according to Fox News Digital, the same day The New York Times “reported that the State Department discovered the hack.”
“The Department of State detected anomalous activity, took immediate steps to secure our systems, and will continue to closely monitor and quickly respond to any further activity,” the department said in a statement this week. “As a matter of cybersecurity policy, we do not discuss details of our response and the incident remains under investigation.”
“The Department of State has a robust cybersecurity program to protect our systems and information and works continuously to build resilience and stay ahead of malicious actors,” it added. “We continuously monitor our networks and update our security procedures.”
No classified information was accessed via the hacked emails, according to The Times.
Still, Fox News Digital notes, the breach “marks the latest hostile action by the Chinese regime, which not only launched a spy balloon across the U.S. earlier this year, but has also sought to build spy bases in Cuba. It has also launched a widespread hacking campaign against the U.S. and other nations.”
Citing a senior State Department official as a source, Reuters reports that “Blinken made clear to China’s top diplomat Wang Yi in a meeting in Jakarta on Thursday that any action that targets the U.S. government, U.S. companies or American citizens ‘is of deep concern to us, and that we will take appropriate action to hold those responsible accountable.'”
Meanwhile, the outlet reports, “the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the accusations ‘disinformation’ in a statement to Reuters earlier this week.”
The Biden administration’s “soft and dismissive approach” to the threat the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) poses to national security has been the subject of Republican scorn, Fox News Digital states, and Stefanik’s criticism has not waned.
“President Biden’s desire for a ‘thaw’ in relations with the CCP continues to be the incorrect approach,” she said in her statement. “Instead, we must pursue peace through strength in order to deter further CCP aggression.”
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Melissa Fine is the former executive editor of Casino Player, Strictly Slots, and Poker
Digest magazines. She is a UCLA graduate, news junkie, and dedicated Stargate SG-
1 fan. Melissa currently lives with her dog and two cats in a tiny town in the Sierra
Nevada foothills.
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