I'm no Chinese spy, Snowden says in webchat
Whistle-blower insists he has had no contact with Beijing and turns his fire on tech giants for giving US government access to their servers
US whistle-blower Edward Snowden says accusations from American politicians that he is a Chinese spy are a "predictable smear" designed to "distract from the issue of US government misconduct".
In only his second public comments since he admitted being behind a series of leaks exposing US cybersurveillance, Snowden told readers of a Guardian webchat: "Ask yourself: if I were a Chinese spy, why wouldn't I have flown directly into Beijing? I could be living in a palace petting a phoenix by now."
Snowden's comments last night came a day after former US vice-president Dick Cheney said China would "probably be willing to provide immunity for [Snowden] or sanctuary for him in exchange for what he presumably knows or doesn't know".
Snowden denied passing information to Beijing. "I have had no contact with the Chinese government," he wrote. "I only work with journalists."
For the first time, Snowden turned his criticism on tech giants including Google and Facebook, which have denied his claims that they gave the US intelligence agencies direct access to their servers.
"They are legally compelled to comply and maintain their silence in regard to specifics of the programme, but that does not comply them from ethical obligation," Snowden wrote. "If for example Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Apple refused to provide this co-operation … what do you think the government would do? Shut them down?"