Beijing slams Pentagon over claims hackers accessed weapons designs

A Pentagon report accusing Chinese hackers of accessing US weapons designs contained "misjudgments", a spokesman for the Defence Ministry in Beijing said yesterday, adding China could build weapons on its own.

US officials, confirming a report in , had said the breaches were part of a large-scale cyberspying campaign against top American defence contractors and government agencies.

"There are misjudgments in the US claims," Geng Yansheng said in a statement on the ministry's website. "First, they underestimate the security defence capabilities of the Pentagon, and second they underestimate the intelligence of the Chinese people.

"China is fully capable of building the weapons and equipment needed to defend national security," he said.

Geng cited as examples the country's aircraft carrier, fighter jets, transport aircraft and its satellite navigation system.

The Pentagon document cited by said hackers accessed secret designs for two dozen major weapons systems crucial to missile defences, combat aircraft and ships.