BEIJING – Beijing on Thursday dismissed a New York Times report thatalleged Chinese intelligence eavesdropped on Donald Trump’s cellphone callsas “fake news” and joked the US president should switch to a Chinese phone.
The newspaper cited anonymous officials who said China and Russia hadlistened in to Trump’s frequent phone calls with friends and allies madeover his iPhone, using the information gleaned to shape interactions withthe US.
When asked about the report at a regular news briefing, Chinese foreignministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said “certain people in the US aresparing no efforts to win the best screenplay award at the Oscars”.
Hua offered three recommendations to the US daily and the Trumpadministration.
“First The New York Times should know if they publish this type of reportit provides another piece of evidence of The New York Times making fakenews,” she said, using one of Trump’s favourite tactics to disparageunflattering articles.
“Second if they are worried about Apple phones being listened in on, theyshould swap them with Huawei phones,” Hua said, referring to one of China’slargest telecommunications firms, which has been largely blocked from theUS market over national security concerns.
Lastly, Hua recommended “they should stop using any modern communicationequipment and cut off contact with the outside” if they want to ensureabsolute security.
Russia, too, dismissed the eavesdropping allegations.
“We already treat these sort of stories with a certain humour,” saidpresidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
“We regret this newspaper unthinkingly publishes information which mostlikely indicates a decline in journalistic standards.”
The Times’ report on Wednesday provided few details on how China and Russiawere monitoring Trump’s communications aside from noting the calls wereintercepted as they travel through the US cellphone network. -APP/AFP