Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs sets up cyberdiplomacy office

The mainland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has set up an office to deal with diplomatic activities involving cybersecurity, a spokeswoman announced yesterday.

That comes in the wake of revelations by whistle-blower Edward Snowden that the US has been hacking into computer networks in Hong Kong and on the mainland for years.

The new cyberaffairs office is the first of its kind on the mainland. The Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said the mainland had been "a major victim" of cyberattacks and that the country opposed "cyberattacks in all forms". She said Beijing would discuss cybersecurity issues with the United States at next month's China-US strategic and security dialogue.

Mainland security experts said yesterday that Snowden's revelations about Washington's global cyberspying programme would speed up Beijing's drive to replace all foreign-made parts in its internet infrastructure with domestic products.

For years, security experts have warned the central government that relying on foreign telecoms equipment - such as core router chips and software - would make China's network vulnerable.

Experts said Snowden's claims this week vindicated their view and would help boost Beijing's determination to phase out foreign products.