U.S. officials and tech companies have long understood that the communist regime in Beijing has orchestrated numerous significant cyberattacks on American institutions and critical infrastructure. In a secret December meeting, Chinese officials apparently admitted as much and identified a major reason for doing so: America’s continued support for the island nation of Taiwan.
A pair of anonymous sources said to be familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal that Chinese officials met with elements of the outgoing Biden administration during a December summit in Geneva that was led by Nate Fick, the State Department’s then-ambassador at large for cyberspace and digital policy.
Whereas previously, China has played off Volt Typhoon — its hacker outfit tasked with espionage and information gathering — as a criminal crew of rogue hackers or the product of Western fantasy, the Chinese delegation apparently acknowledged that it was indeed a state-backed enterprise.
