The most recent hacking incidents, which appear to have originated in Jinan, Shandong province, have begun an intense debate over whether China can be a legitimate player in international internet regulation. Google’s announcement comes at a time when the internet is at the top of the global agenda. While the sophistication of the attacks seems to indicate Chinese government involvement, Beijing has steadfastly denied responsibility for this attack or any other.

From the Guardian:

Tensions between the US, UK and China over the issue of cyber-attacks were set to escalate after it emerged that Chinese hackers have stolen the login details of hundreds of senior US and South Korean government officials as well as Chinese political activists.

Google said it had discovered and alerted hundreds of people who had been taken in by a carefully targeted “phishing” scam originating from Jinan, the capital of Shandong province. Hackers aimed to get complete control of users’ email accounts on the Gmail system.

While there is no direct evidence that the hackers were in the pay of the Chinese government, the sophistication of the attacks and their highly targeted nature eliminates direct financial gain as a motive. Google did not rule out the possibility of the attack being state-sponsored.

The action could seriously heighten tensions over the issue of cyberwar. The US government moved this week to classify cyber-attacks as “acts of war“, while the defence minister Nick Harvey said on Monday that “action in cyberspace will form part of the future battlefield“.

In the Chinese English-language news media, responses to the allegations range from non-response (Global Times) to fierce rebuttals (Xinhua News Agency). The People’s Daily website even featured–prominently–an article about the “Internet Openness Conference” held in Beijing on June 1, 2011.

From Xinhua:

Again, Google complained about China undermining its cyberspace service. Just as its previous accusations, the world’s largest Internet search engine provided no solid proof to support its statement.

In a blog post updated on Wednesday, Google said a clandestine campaign originating in China targeted some users of Gmail, its e-mail service, aiming at stealing passwords and monitoring e-mail accounts.

It was the second time that Google arbitrarily pointed its finger at China. Last year, Google groundlessly accused the Chinese government of supporting hacker attack against it and pushed China to abandon legal regulations on the Internet by threatening to withdraw from the Chinese market.

The chimerical complaints by Google have become obstacles for enhancing global trust between stakeholders in cyberspace.

For the full article from Xinhua, click here.