Investing.com - Chinese police have issued wanted notices for three people that it says are affiliated with the U.S. National Security Agency over suspected cyberattacks, in the latest sign of escalating tensions between Beijing and Washington.
According to the state-backed Xinhua News Agency, authorities in the city of Harbin in northeast China have been pursuing the three individuals, alleging that they participated in cyberattacks targeting the Asian Winter Games held in the city in February.
The NSA’s Office of Tailored Access Operations carried out the attacks and used multiple front organizations to purchase IP addresses and anonymously rent servers in Europe and Asia in a bid to conceal their actions, Xinhua said.
Investigations by Chinese technical teams found that the NSA focused its attacks on "critical systems" of the Asian Winter Games, including registration and competition entry platforms, the report said. It added that these systems were "essential" in the build-up to the event, whose opening ceremony was attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The NSA allegedly launched cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure sectors in northeastern Heilongjiang Province like energy, transportation and defense research institutions, Xinhua said. Evidence of involvement by the University of California and Virginia Tech were also found, it added.
Tuesday’s report comes as the U.S. and China are engaged in an intensifying trade war, with U.S. President Donald Trump imposing tariffs of up to 145% on Chinese goods. Beijing has since slapped retaliatory tariffs of 125% on American imports.
Trump announced a partial delay of elevated reciprocal tariffs on most countries last week following deep ructions in stock and bond markets, although China was not included in this decision.
However, late on Friday, the White House temporarily paused duties impacting a wide range of electronic imports like smartphones and computers, many of which come from China. Trump has also reportedly considering granting relief from some car-related tariffs already in place.