China today said Edward Snowden's revelations have proved that it was one of the major victims of cyber attacks, as the official media here pressed the government to milk "solid information" from the whistleblower and use him as a "card" to negotiate with the US.
Still ambivalent whether China would permit Hong Kong to extradite Snowden, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said she has no information on the issue.
She however pointed to China's repeated stand on cyber theft, that "it is one of the major victims of cyber attacks".
"What has happened recently has also shown that China is indeed one of the major victims of cyber attacks", she told a media briefing, indirectly referring to Snowden's allegations of hacker attacks on China by the US in an interview to Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.
"The international community should come up with regulations on cybersecurity. China is firmly opposed to all forms of hacking attacks. What cyberspace needs is not war or hegemony, not irresponsible attacks or accusations but regulation and cooperation," Hua said.
"We will also maintain that relevant international regulations should be made within the framework of the United Nations, and we have made specific proposals", she said.
"We hope all relevant parties can take concrete action to boost mutual trust and maintain peace and security of cyberspace. We will carry out cooperation with the US through the cyber security working group within the framework of the strategic security dialogue", she said.
Meanwhile, the Chinese official media said Beijing should extract more information from Snowden, a 29-year-old CIA employee who defected to Hong Kong on May 20.
"The Chinese government should acquire more solid information from Snowden if he has it, and use it as evidence to negotiate with the US", state-run Global Times said in an editorial titled "China deserves explanation of PRISM".
"Snowden is a 'card' that China never expected. But China is neither adept at nor used to playing it. China should make sure that Hong Kong is not the last place where other 'Snowdens' want to go. At the very least, Hong Kong should be an acceptable destination for them," the editorial said.
