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WASHINGTON DC, United States?Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Monday condemned the alleged hacking of the Google email accounts of several foreign news bureaus in Beijing.
"Reporters Without Borders is deeply disturbed and outraged by cyberattacks on the Google email accounts of several Beijing-based foreign journalists," the press freedom group said.
The RSF statement came after the Foreign Correspondents' Club of China said in a notice on its website that "foreign correspondents in a few bureaus in Beijng have recently discovered that their Gmail accounts had been hijacked.
"Their emails were being forwarded to a stranger's address," the FCCC said in an advisory to its more than 400 members on "ensuring your Gmail security."
"We remind all members that journalists in China have been particular targets of hacker attacks in the last two years," the FCCC said. "Please be very careful about what links you click on, what email attachments you open, and do run virus checks regularly."
The FCCC notice came less than a week after Google announced that the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists around the world had been targeted in what it said were highly sophisticated attacks "originating from China."
The FCCC advisory did not specifically link the Gmail hacking of foreign correspondents in Beijing to the cyberattacks reported by Google.
Google, in revealing the cyberattacks on Tuesday, said it would no longer censor search engine results in China even if that meant it would have to shut down its operations in the world's largest online market.
RSF, in its statement, said, "The hackers who targeted foreign journalists based in Beijing were probably trying to get contact details and information about the human rights activists who talk to the international press.
"Compromising these reporters' communication methods endangers and intimidates their sources and constitutes a serious violation of their privacy, their professional work, and their freedom to provide news and information," it said.
"We firmly condemn these attacks and we call on the ministry of industry and information technology to provide an explanation," RSF said.
The Paris-based press freedom group also lashed out at Microsoft for failing to follow Google's lead over the cyberattacks.
"Microsoft has minimized their importance and has firmly announced its intention to stay in the Chinese market," RSF said, adding that the US software giant had "let slip an opportunity to show a united front towards the Chinese and to try together to roll back censorship."
The United States has asked China for an explanation for the cyberattacks reported by Google, and the State Department said Friday that a formal request would be made "in the coming days."
China has sought to tamp down the controversy, saying it will not affect Sino-US ties already frayed over a number of issues, from climate change to the value of the Chinese yuan and several trade disputes.
