Bloc should safeguard peace and stability in cyberspace: FM

China called on small and medium-sized member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on Thursday to stay strategically independent on cybersecurity, while urging major countries inside the bloc to work with the international community to safeguard peace and stability in cyberspace.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a regular news conference after NATO leaders called China out for "malicious hybrid and cyberoperations and its confrontational rhetoric and disinformation" and accused Beijing of striving "to subvert the rules-based international order, including in the space, cyber and maritime domains".

Wang criticized NATO's cybersecurity policy as being hijacked by certain member states, saying it is dominated by double standards and self-contradiction.

While claiming that malicious cyberattacks could reach the level of armed attacks and invoke the collective defense article, NATO seems to turn a blind eye to certain countries' public announcement of aggressive cybermilitary policies, Wang said.

As NATO talks about advancing a peaceful cyberspace, it selectively ignores the risks of dragging major nuclear powers into geopolitical conflicts due to cyberattacks launched by certain member countries.

While claiming to safeguard order in cyberspace, NATO remains silent about certain member states' blatant targeting of other countries' infrastructure in cyberattacks, he said. Major powers in NATO should earnestly follow the United Nations' standards of responsible state behavior in cyberspace, Wang said.