Rishi Sunak criticises ‘authoritarian and assertive’ China after MoD hack
Rishi Sunak has said Beijing is “acting in a way that is more authoritarian and assertive abroad” after Sky News revealed China hacked the Ministry of Defence
The prime minister made his first comments about the massive data breach on Tuesday lunchtime after Sky News revealed on Monday evening that China is responsible for hacking the armed forces’ third-party payroll system.
He refused to name China but said a “malign actor has compromised the armed forces payment network”.
“I set out a very robust policy towards China, which means that we need to take the powers which we have done to protect ourselves against the risk that China and other countries pose to us,” he added.
“They are a country with fundamentally different values to ours that are acting in a way that is more authoritarian and assertive abroad.”
Mr Sunak said he wanted to reassure people the MoD has already removed the network, taken it offline and is “making sure the people affected are supported in the right way”.
Names and bank details of current army, Royal Navy and RAF personnel and some veterans were exposed by the hack.
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China said the accusations were “completely fabricated and malicious slanders”.
A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in London denied the country had anything to do with an MoD hack and said it had made “relevant responses” to accusations on the 25 and 27 March.
He accused the UK of politicising cyber security and claimed there was no factual evidence of China hacking the MoD.
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China: Hacking allegations ‘absurd’
‘China has no need to meddle in internal affairs of UK’
The spokesman said: “I will hereby reiterate that the so-called cyber attacks by China against the UK are completely fabricated and malicious slanders.
“We strongly oppose such accusations. China has always firmly fought all forms of cyber attacks according to law. China does not encourage, support or condone cyber attacks.
“At the same time, we oppose the politicisation of cyber security issues and the baseless denigration of other countries without factual evidence.
“China has neither the interest nor the need to meddle in the internal affairs of the UK.”
The attack was focused on a contractor system that is not connected to the main MoD computer systems. It has now been taken down and a review launched.
All salaries will be paid this month and the MoD hopes serving personnel will not be concerned about their safety, with staff to be provided with advice and support.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps is due to make a statement on the issue to the Commons this afternoon.
Tobias Ellwood, a Conservative MP and former soldier, told Sky News China “was probably looking at the financially vulnerable with a view that they may be coerced in exchange for cash”.
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Sir Iain Duncan Smith says the government needs to stand up to China. File pic: PA
China is winning the war
Tory MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who has been sanctioned by China, told Sky News: “China is behind this.
“And the reluctance, I think, comes from this panic that somehow if we upset China, China will kill the business.”
Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said the hack was “deeply concerning” and the government “has got questions to answer”.
Luke de Pulford, executive director of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, said Beijing has carried out many cyber attacks on Britain but the UK has only retaliated once in the form of sanctioning the companies carrying out the attack rather than the Chinese government.
He added that FBI director Christopher Wray “put it pretty starkly” when he said Beijing’s cyber espionage programme is so vast it is bigger than all its major competitors combined.
The hack targeted an MoD payroll system. File pic: Reuters
Not China’s first cyber attack on UK
The hack could raise questions about whether other countries with challenging relationships with China will want to share sensitive intelligence with the UK.
The attack comes less than two months after “state-affiliated actors”, alleged to be working on behalf of China, were blamed by the government for two “malicious” cyber attack campaigns in the UK.
Vladimir Putin has visited Kursk for the first time since his troops ejected Ukrainian forces from the Russian city.
The Russian president met with volunteer organisations and visited a nuclear power plant in the region on Tuesday, the Kremlin said.
Mr Putin said late last month that his forces had ejected Ukrainian troops from the Kursk region, which ended the largest incursion into Russian territory since the Second World War.
Vladimir Putin during his visit in the Kursk region on Tuesday. Pic: Kremlin News/Telegram
Mr Putin visited a nuclear power plant. Pic: Kremlin.ru/Reuters
Ukraine launched its attack in August last year, using swarms of drones and heavy Western weaponry to smash through the Russian border, controlling nearly 540sq m (5,813sq ft) of Kursk at the height of the incursion.
More than 159 Ukrainian drones were shot down over Russian territory, Russia’s defence ministry said on Wednesday.
The majority were over Russia’s western regions, but at least six drones were shot down over the densely populated Moscow region, the ministry added.
The visit in the Kursk region comes as a Russian missile attack killed six soldiers and injured 10 more during training in the Sumy region of Ukraine, according to the country’s national guard.
The commander of the unit has been suspended and an internal investigation has been launched.
The Russian president met with volunteer organisations. Pic: Kremlin News/Telegram
Russia’s defence ministry claimed the attack on the training camp in northeastern Ukraine killed up to 70 Ukrainian servicemen, including 20 instructors.
The attack comes after US President Donald Trump spoke to both Mr Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, urging them to restart ceasefire talks.
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But German defence minister Boris Pistorius said on Wednesday that Mr Trump misjudged his influence on Mr Putin after the call between the American and Russian leaders yielded no progress in Ukraine peace talks.
Europe has since announced new sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine. Mr Pistorius said it remained to be seen whether the US would join those measures.
Three people have died after severe thunderstorms caused flooding in the Var region of southeastern France, according to reports.
The rain has also caused widespread damage as Meteo-France, the country’s national weather agency, placed the region under an orange alert for rain, flooding and thunderstorms, French broadcaster BFM TV reported.
Two of those who died were an elderly couple who were in their car as it was swept away by floodwaters in the seaside town of Le Lavandou, France 24 reported.
Meanwhile, the gendarmerie said around 2.30pm local time (1:30pm UK time) that a person had been found drowned in their vehicle in the commune of Vidauban.
Le Lavandou and the commune of Bormes-les-Mimosas were particularly hard hit by the storms.
Gil Bernardi, mayor of Le Lavandou, said during a press conference: “The roads, the bridges, the paving stones, there is no more electricity, water, or wastewater treatment plant. The shock is significant because the phenomenon is truly violent and incomprehensible.
“As we speak, an entire part of the commune is inaccessible.”
Power and water outages were also reported in the town of Cavaliere where 250mm of rain fell in the space of one hour.
A parking lot collapsed in the town, and dozens of people were rescued, according to the authorities.
Around 200 firefighters and 35 gendarmes have reportedly been responding to the floods in Var.
Meteo-France had recorded cumulative rainfall exceeding 10cm as of 10am local time.
Japan’s agriculture minister has resigned after saying he has “never had to buy rice” while the country struggles with shortages and rising costs of its staple grain.
Taku Eto offered his resignation to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Wednesday after he made the comments at a party seminar on Sunday.
Mr Eto said his supporters have always gifted him rice, meaning he does not have to buy it himself.
His comments immediately sparked a public backlash.
“I made an extremely inappropriate remark at a time when consumers are struggling with soaring rice prices,” Mr Eto told reporters after handing in his resignation at the prime minister’s office.
He told the Kyodo news agency: “I asked myself whether it is appropriate for me to stay at the helm [of the agriculture ministry] at a critical time for rice prices, and I concluded that it is not.
“Once again, I apologise to people for making extremely inappropriate comments as minister when they are struggling with surging rice prices.”
Opposition parties had threatened to submit a no-confidence motion against him if Mr Eto did not resign voluntarily by Wednesday afternoon.
Japan has been struggling with rice shortages since hot weather resulted in a poor harvest in 2023.
The Japanese government’s emergency rice reserves in Saitama Prefecture in March. Pic: AP
More recently, a government preparedness warning ahead of a major earthquake last August prompted panic buying – squeezing supplies even further.
Politicians have also blamed the rising cost of fertiliser and other related goods.
The crisis has seen the government release vast quantities of rice from its emergency stockpiles for the first time.
In April, Japan also imported the grain from South Korea for the first time in 25 years in a further bid to boost supplies and lower prices.
But shelf prices have continued to rise, reaching 4,268 yen (£22) per 5kg in the week to 11 May – double what it was a year ago.
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Mr Eto has been replaced by Shinjiro Koizumi, a former environment minister who ran unsuccessfully against the prime minister for the Liberal Democratic Party leadership last year.
The rice crisis is placing further strain on Mr Ishiba’s minority government – ahead of the country’s upcoming elections in July.
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