Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry that Beijing opposes all cyber attacks as Washington seeks China's help countering cyber threats from North Korea.
Kerry and Wang discussed the hacking of Sony Pictures, blamed by the U.S. on North Korea, during a telephone conversation on Sunday, the Chinese ministry said in a statement on Monday.
The Chinese statement, however, stopped short of directly mentioning North Korea.
"China opposes all forms of cyber attacks and any country or individual using other countries' facilities to wage cyber attacks against third-party countries," the statement said.
U.S. President Barack Obama said Sunday that Washington is considering re-listing North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism for its alleged cyber attack apparently carried out in response to a movie about a plot to assassinate the North's leader Kim Jong-un.
Sony Pictures canceled the Christmas Day release of the film "The Interview" after hackers threatened attacks against cinema chains screening the movie.
North Korea has denied it was behind the hacking, though it lauded it as a "righteous deed." On Sunday, the North's powerful National Defense Commission (NDC) stepped up its rhetoric against the U.S.
"The army and people of the DPRK (North Korea) are fully ready to stand in confrontation with the U.S. in all war spaces including cyber warfare space to blow up those citadels," the North's NDC said in a statement.
"Our toughest counteraction will be boldly taken against the White House, the Pentagon and the whole U.S. mainland, the cesspool of terrorism, by far surpassing the 'symmetric counteraction'declared by Obama," it said. (Yonhap)
