Chinese government hackers have penetrated the U.S. Treasury Department's office that imposes economic sanctions, The Washington Post reported Wednesday, identifying targets of a cyberattack the Treasury Department disclosed earlier this week.
Citing unnamed U.S. officials, The Washington Post said hackers compromised the Office of Foreign Assets Control and the Office of Financial Research and in addition targeted the office of U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
The department said in a letter to lawmakers earlier this week that hackers stole unclassified documents in a “serious incident.” It didn’t specify which users or departments were affected.
Asked in regards to the newspaper's report, Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said the “irrational” US claim had “no factual basis” and constituted “slander attacks” against Beijing.
The statement said China “combats all forms of cyberattacks” and did circuitously address The Washington Post's reporting on specific targets.
The Treasury Department didn’t immediately reply to requests for comment on the newspaper report.
The Washington Post quoted its sources as saying that a key interest of the Chinese government is Chinese corporations that the US government could potentially impose financial sanctions on.
The Treasury Department's letter earlier this week said hackers had compromised third-party cybersecurity service provider BeyondTrust.
Chinese corporations, individuals and organizations have often been the goal of U.S. sanctions, which Washington has used as a key tool in its foreign policy toward Beijing.
The United States views China as its biggest foreign policy challenge, and last month Yellen told Reuters that Washington wouldn’t rule out sanctions on Chinese banks because the country seeks to cut back Russia's oil revenues and access to foreign supplies to support its war within the to heat up Ukraine.
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