G7 calls China a ‘Russian war savior’ as an infrastructure attacker, ‘presidential election topic’
As the G7 summit described China as a common enemy as the “savior of Russia’s war machine,” it made a sharp turn from a “strategic partner” and a “customer” just a year ago, and from a possible Chinese attack on U.S. infrastructure, it became a subject of the U.S. presidential election.
“We will continue to take action against Chinese and third-country actors who provide material support to Russia’s war machine,” said a joint statement from the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Italy. “This includes financial institutions that comply with the provisions of the Act and other institutions in China that facilitate the acquisition of Russian defense industry infrastructure supplies,” it said on the 5th.
The G7 summit held on July 26, 2022 in Elmau, southern Germany, presented the priority goal of blocking China's economic support system, the Belt and Road Initiative, as economic support for developing countries.
US President Biden and G7 countries announced a new ban on imports of Russian gold and signed the Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment (PGII), a new framework to respond to China's Belt and Road Initiative.
U.S. President Biden said at a press conference on the 13th, "China is not supplying weapons for the war in Ukraine, but rather it is supplying the ability to produce weapons and the technology to carry them out. So, it is in effect helping Russia." “It is,” he said.
This year's G7 joint statement from Puglia, Italy, specifically accused China of a series of high-profile hacks of critical infrastructure in the United States and Europe, and jointly called on China to "keep its commitments to act responsibly in cyberspace." “We will continue our efforts to disrupt and deter persistent and malicious cyber activity originating from China that threatens the safety and privacy of our citizens, stifles innovation, and puts our critical infrastructure at risk.”
Regarding the joint statement, the New York Times said, “There were a total of 28 mentions of China, and almost all of them portrayed China as a malign force.” “Throughout the G7 summit, China criticized the summit’s final statement, ‘Russia’s war machine. He was hiding as the savior of the world. “The threat is deepening in the South China Sea, and erratic economic actors are threatening to dump electric vehicles into Western markets and withhold key minerals needed for high-tech industries.”
The topic of China's role in the G7 was rarely raised officially at the previous two summits, and when the 'nuclear weapons threat' was raised about Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the evaluation of 'China as a mediator' prevailed.
“We will continue to take action against Chinese and third-country actors who provide material support to Russia’s war machine,” the statement said. “This includes financial institutions consistent with our legal framework and Russia’s defense industrial base.” “This includes other organizations in China that facilitate the acquisition of goods,” he said, adding that they were listed as targets of direct sanctions.
Regarding the background of the hardline shift toward China, “Within the Biden administration, President Xi’s views on China’s role in the Ukraine war have changed over the past year, and he has increasingly supported President Putin, who declared ‘unrestricted partnership’ with China. “In the past few months, most administration officials have changed their minds, with some saying they believe China is working to prevent countries from participating in peace talks hosted by President Zelenskyy.” He said.
Regarding the ‘infrastructure hacking’ that appeared in the joint statement, “The infrastructure reference is related to the Chinese program that the United States calls ‘Volt Typhoon,’” and “American intelligence officials have determined that China is hacking the water systems, power grids, and port operations of the United States and its allies.” “It was described as a sophisticated effort to plant Chinese malware,” the NYT said.
NYT, which analyzed congressional testimony and interviews with U.S. administration officials, found that the real purpose of the infrastructure hacking malware was to secure the ability to shut down critical U.S. services amid the Taiwan crisis, slowing the U.S. military's response and maintaining Taiwan's independence. It has gone beyond that and has now expanded to causing infrastructure confusion to Americans about whether they can turn their tap water back on.
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigated equipment recovered from a Chinese reconnaissance balloon that was shot down off the coast of South Carolina in February of last year as part of its investigation into the Chinese balloon incident, and at the time, U.S. intelligence agencies and Microsoft investigated a more worrisome intruder, namely Guam and the United States. announced the detection of unidentified computer code appearing on communication systems in other regions.
Microsoft said of the discovery of the code, "It was installed by a Chinese government hacking group. The code indicates that Guam, home to a Pacific port and a vast U.S. air force base, would be central to the U.S. military's response to an invasion or blockade of Taiwan."
“The operation was carried out very secretly, sometimes through home routers and other Internet-connected consumer devices, to make the intrusion difficult to track,” the NYT reported at the time. “The code is called a ‘web shell’ and allows remote access to the server.” As a malicious script, home routers are particularly vulnerable, especially older models whose software and protection features have not been updated.”
The United States began mobilizing the Department of Defense, intelligence agencies, and national security officials to search for malicious computer code that China may have hidden in the power grids, communications systems, and networks that control water supplies that supply power to military bases in the United States and around the world, as evidenced by congressional testimony and reports. Fear was secretly spread in the United States through interviews with officials, and it became a subject of the current presidential election.
The discovery of this malware was initially in the realm of 'foreign security' as Chinese hackers were believed to have inserted code designed to disrupt US military operations in the event of conflict, including in the event of a Chinese attack on Taiwan, in the coming years. The election was converted to domestic use as the competition between the Democratic and Republican parties intensified.
An official in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives said in an anonymous interview that the malware was a "ticking time bomb" and that "China has the power to disrupt or slow down the deployment or resupply of U.S. military forces by cutting off power, water, and communications to U.S. military bases." Initially limited to a limited area, administration officials quickly expanded the scope to include the same infrastructure, often supplied to the homes and businesses of ordinary Americans.
The Chinese infrastructure hacking material covered by the US media as a 'malware campaign' was originally from the balloon incident, and Microsoft announced 'computer code detection in communication systems in Guam, a Pacific island where a US Air Force base is located, and other areas in the US', and the tap water and electricity supply chain in the US. It was suddenly brought to a head due to possible attacks on infrastructure, and the media expanded its contribution and this time, through the G7, it became an important variable in the US presidential election.