China disputes U.S. spy charges

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WASHINGTON, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Beijing is dismissing a U.S. report identifying China as a leading online spy, calling the report "both unprofessional and irresponsible."

The U.S. National Counterintelligence Executive submitted the report to Congress Thursday. It said investigators had traced an "onslaught" of cyberattacks to China, which it called the world's "most active and persistent" cyberspy.

The report looked into industrial espionage from 2009-2011 and said foreign intelligence services had ramped up efforts to steal economic and infrastructure information about multimillion-dollar U.S. technology, Britain's The Guardian reported.

The intelligence account specifically named "Chinese actors" as "the world's most active and persistent perpetrators of economic espionage."

"Online attacks are notable for spanning national borders and being anonymous. Identifying the attackers without carrying out a comprehensive investigation and making inferences about the attackers is both unprofessional and irresponsible," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said. "I hope the international community can abandon prejudice and work hard with China to maintain online security."

The intelligence report said Russian intelligence services were also trying to gain access to sensitive information, The Guardian said.

"We judge that the governments of China and Russia will remain aggressive and capable collectors of sensitive U.S. economic information and technologies, particularly in cyberspace," the report concluded.