Nicholas Burns, the U.S. ambassador to China, was one of a number of government officials who have had their email accounts breached by Chinese hackers, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Hundreds of thousands of government emails have been targeted in recent hacks likely affiliated with China’s military and spy services, including those of Burns and Daniel Kritenbrink, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs. It was revealed last week that the email account of Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo — one of the more outspoken China critics in the administration — was also hacked. Raimondo and her staff are attempting to place export controls on China to prevent its military from accessing critical American technology.
It does not appear that Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s account was hacked prior to visiting China last month. However, Kritenbrink accompanied Blinken on his trip and led a trip of other officials that laid the groundwork for the secretary’s visit.
Blinken, Kritenbrink, and Burns all attended meetings with senior Chinese officials and with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
According to a preliminary investigation, no classified information was accessed. However, hackers may have gleaned inside information about the increasing number of visits to China that Biden officials have made, as well as internal conversations about U.S. policies towards China.
The hacks that targeted the State and Commerce Departments were surgical in nature and unlike previous Russian-intelligence breaches that were much broader.
Republicans have pointed to the hacks as reason enough for the Biden administration to stop pursuing a thaw with China. They’ve also pointed to many other incidents, such as the spy balloon and the close cooperation between China and Cuba.
Presidential candidate Nikki Haley urged the administration to change its approach in response to the news.
“To Joe Biden, Janet Yellen, John Kerry, & all the people who think we can befriend China, pay attention,” wrote Haley on Twitter. “China is not our friend. China is our enemy. It’s time to wake up & start acting like it.”
The U.S. has not formally declared China responsible for the attacks, likely because it does not want to upset ongoing talks. However, national-security adviser Jake Sullivan said over the weekend that the administration has no reason to doubt Microsoft’s assessment, which ascribed the attack to a China-based entity called Storm-0558.