China Peeved By Reports of U.S. Spying

China demanded answers Monday about reports that the United States hacked into the emails of top Chinese officials by monitoring the local tech giant Huawei.

“China has made many representations to the U.S. We urge the U.S. to give a clear account and stop similar acts,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a press briefing, adding that he was “gravely concerned” by the spying allegations, the Associated Press reports.

The New York Times and German newspaper Der Spiegel recently reporting that the NSA started targeting Huawei in 2009, citing documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. The alleged spying began at a time when U.S. officials were concerned that Huawei could pose a threat to national security.

“We consistently believe Internet communication technologies should be used to develop a country’s economy in a normal way, and not be used in stealing secret information, phone-tapping and monitoring,” Hong said.

[AP]