China’s government on Monday criticized President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Chinese hackers, not Russia, might be behind a cyber espionage campaign against the United States.

Trump on Saturday scoffed at assertions by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other officials that the Kremlin was behind attempts to spy on federal agencies. Trump, without offering evidence, said “it may” be China.

The foreign ministry said China opposes cyber spying and has crackdown on cyber crime.

“The United States has politicized the issue of cybersecurity without conclusive evidence and continuously spread false information and thrown mud at China in an attempt to tarnish China’s image,” said a ministry spokesman, Wang Wenbin.

“We hope the United States will take a more responsible attitude on cyber security,” Wang said.

China is widely regarded as, along with the United States and Russia, one of the most advanced governments in developing cyber warfare capabilities.

The U.S. government charged two Chinese citizens in July with carrying out long-running cyber spying since 2009 aimed at stealing information about coronavirus vaccines, weapons and human rights activists.

Chinese military officers and others also have been indicted since 2014 on U.S. charges of carrying out hacking attacks to steal commercial secrets.

(AP)