Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian

"I'm not familiar with what you mentioned. We oppose vilifying China by peddling the so-called 'Chinese spy' narrative, which is totally baseless," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Thursday.

Lin made the remarks in response to a reporter's question noted that US authorities claimed that they have seized 13 internet domains which they alleged were being used by Chinese intelligence to gain information from people in the US who had US security clearance.

The one that has been openly and extensively engaged in espionage and intelligence gathering worldwide is none other than the US itself, the spokesperson said.

The US Justice Department on Wednesday local time released a statement claiming that the department, with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), had disabled 13 websites, which it alleged were backed by suspected Chinese agents who sought sensitive US information from holders of security clearances.

The statement claimed that the Chinese government's intelligence services have tried to use artificial intelligence (AI)-generated content to trick, recruit, or coerce current and former US security clearance holders into sharing sensitive information.

This baseless allegation from the US Justice Department came after the so-called "warning" issued by the UK Security Service (MI5), together with intelligence agencies from other "Five Eyes" countries, alleging that Chinese intelligence services are approaching individuals in Western countries through fake online recruitment schemes in order to steal military, political, and technological intelligence.

Days earlier, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in the UK said that the allegations of a so-called "Chinese espionage threat" were entirely fabricated and constituted malicious slander, expressing strong condemnation of the accusations.

It must be pointed out that the "Five Eyes" are the world's largest intelligence network. Its members have engaged in unscrupulous espionage and intelligence-gathering activities around the globe. They are the real threat to peace-loving countries, the spokesperson said.

Zhou Mi, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Thursday that a vast majority of surveillance operations are initiated by the US and other Western countries, and they themselves face strong pushback from nations around the world.

Zhou said that some in the West have now resorted to fabricating imaginary enemies to divert public and international attention.

"But more and more people are seeing through the charade," Zhou said, noting that these tactics that rely solely on ideology or so-called alliances to distort reality are becoming increasingly untenable.