Clean network proposer recidivist Peeping Tom: China Daily editorial

The timing of the media revelation of US spying activities in several European countries could not have been worse for Joe Biden. It has come less than two weeks before he is scheduled to embark on his first European tour as US president, and after he has been making painstaking efforts to repair transatlantic relations, which were severely damaged by his predecessor.

Denmark's national broadcaster DR News broke the story on Sunday, reporting the Danish Defense Intelligence Service had given the US National Security Agency open internet access so it could spy on senior politicians of neighboring countries, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

DR News, in collaboration with several European media outlets, uncovered that the NSA spied on targeted heads of state, top politicians, and high-ranking officials of Germany, Sweden, Norway and France, through its access to text messages, telephone calls and internet traffic, including searches.

The revelation immediately drew an outcry from European leaders, with Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron both demanding clarification from the United States and Denmark. This "is unacceptable between allies, even less between allies and European partners", Macron was quoted by French daily Le Monde as saying.

In fact, this is not the first time that European leaders have fallen victim to the US "empire of hackers". Back in 2013, former NSA contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden exposed the US' PRISM surveillance program had spied on a number of world leaders, including Merkel.

Thanks to revelations from WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, Snowden and like-minded media, the US had been under increasing pressure from the world community because of its Peeping Tom behavior. In recent years, to soothe the anger of its allies, it had promised to stop its controversial surveillance against some allies, including France and Germany.

But the latest scandal shows the US has no sincerity when uttering promises. In the eyes of the US intelligence community, there is no mutual respect and equality in the US alliance system.

Given that the Biden administration has yet to publicly comment on the latest exposure of US spooking, it seems there is every possibility that it hopes the fuss will die down and it can carry on its wire and cybertapping activities undisturbed. But the incident is sure to take pride of place in Biden's discussions during his upcoming visit to Europe and will be seen as a test of his sincerity in calling for a coalition of allies.

In essence, the US global surveillance regime is itself a manifestation of its global hegemony, as it serves its primary goal of maintaining its supremacy in key sectors in the face of growing competition from other countries, including its allies. Hence, it has habitually used its technological superiority to conduct secretive global surveillance activities in total disregard of international rules, morality and friendships.

The international community should put an end to the Peeping Tom habits of the US by making binding rules to keep the genie of US global surveillance locked in a bottle.