Photo: Screenshot from the WeChat account of the Chinese Embassy in Panama

China strongly opposes and does not accept the recent remarks by the US Ambassador to Panama, who once again used the Budapest Convention in an interview with local media to smear Huawei and spread rumors about China, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Panama said. 

The Comptroller General of the Republic of Panama reported that its official Instagram account was hacked by third parties unrelated to the institution on May 3 local time. The cyberattack resulted in the complete deletion of all posts from the profile, Newsroom Panama reported. 

Kevin Marino Cabrera, the US ambassador to Panama, claimed that “Companies like Huawei and that type are not trustworthy” and hyped the US’ willingness to cooperate on cybersecurity, according to the report.

According to a statement by the spokesperson released by the Chinese Embassy in Panama, the remarks made by the US Ambassador to Panama lack a basic understanding of the issue. The Budapest Convention is not a global convention, but rather a multilateral treaty concluded in 2001 by the European Union and countries including the US. Of the 195 countries in the world, only 81 are parties to the convention, while the remaining 114 are not. “How could he claim that China is among the few countries that have not signed it?” the spokesperson questioned. 

As a firm defender of cybersecurity, China resolutely opposes and combats all forms of cyberattacks. It is committed to strengthening cooperation with other countries – on the basis of mutual respect, equality, and mutual benefit – through bilateral dialogue and channels such as judicial assistance to jointly address cybersecurity threats, the spokesperson said. 

The US has accused the Chinese government or companies of engaging in cyberattacks but has never produced credible evidence, the spokesperson noted, adding that such claims are entirely politically motivated. 

The US is known as the world’s largest source of cyberattacks and a widely-recognized “hacker empire.” It has long engaged in widespread surveillance, monitoring and cyberattacks across this region. The US ambassador’s remarks are a typical stunt of “a thief crying stop thief.”

Global Times