NSA Leaks Could Hurt US-China Ties

Local Editor

US-China relations could face further challenges in the wake of the scandal exposed by the ex-CIA contractor Edward Snowden over the covert National Security Agency program PRISM, Chinese state media mentioned on Thursday.

Snowden told Hong Kong's South China Morning Post on Wednesday that there had been more than 61,000 NSA hacking operations globally and that the NSA has hacked computers in China and Hong Kong since 2009.

Reacting to those revelations, Li Haidong, an analyst quoted in the state-run China Daily said the program "is certain to stain Washington's overseas image and test developing Sino-US ties."

Washington has repeatedly accused Beijing of cyber-spying, but President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping adopted a conciliatory tone at a two-day summit in California last week.

Adding to the diplomatic complications, Snowden has flown to the semi-autonomous Chinese city of Hong Kong and vowed to resist attempts to extradite him to the US.
China, however, said it had "no information to offer" on Snowden.

A new confidential briefing for the US Senate is set for Thursday to discuss details of the NSA surveillance.

Source: News Agencies, edited by website team