François-Xavier Bellamy, head of the LR list in the European elections, files a complaint after an attempted Chinese cyberattack

The MEP also asks Emmanuel Macron to be firm on this subject with the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, currently on a state visit to France.

François-Xavier Bellamy, head of the Republican list for the European elections, filed a complaint on Monday, May 6, after being the victim of an attempted cyberattack by “hackers close to the Chinese regime”. “I will not be intimidated. I am filing a complaint today [lundi]“wrote François-Xavier Bellamy on the social network “American government.

“During my mandate, I never stopped reminding that Europe and France must move away from naivety in the face of Beijing (…) Xi Jinping’s China challenges our democracies: we must have the courage to react strategic”, judges MEP LR. Xi Jinping is in France as part of a two-day state visit to celebrate the 60 years of Franco-Chinese diplomatic relations. François-Xavier Bellamy thus urges the President of the Republic to “tell the Chinese president our determined refusal of these attacks”.

Questioned by AFP, he declared that this attempted attack took place in 2021. SThe European Parliament’s email box was reportedly targeted by APT31, a group of hackers that several countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, consider linked to the Chinese government. “We do not know if the hacking attempt was completed”specified François-Xavier Bellamy, also a member of the interparliamentary alliance on China (Ipac), a European body created in 2020 to act in a coordinated manner on various subjects relating to this country, from the management of Covid-19 to the repression of the Uyghurs.

Other French elected officials targeted

Seven French deputies and senators who are members of Ipac, and also targeted by APT31 cyberattacks, had sounded the alarm in recent days in front of the “lightness” of the response of the authorities to this “act of war”. Most, like François-Xavier Bellamy, only discovered the existence of this attack at the end of March, when the US Department of Justice issued an indictment charging seven Chinese people for a “prolific global hacking operation”.

These parliamentarians reiterated their concerns Monday during a press conference, urging the French government to “formally attribute these attacks to APT31”, “impose sanctions” to hackers indicted in the United States or even “open a judicial investigation for foreign interference”. “We cannot allow such an act to go without a solid response”notably regretted the centrist senator Olivier Cadic, promising to use his “prerogatives” elected to investigate the subject by conducting hearings starting in June.

Questioned at the end of last week by AFP, the prosecution refused to comment on this matter. “APT31’s operating mode is subject to particular monitoring”, “including judicial”for her part assured government spokesperson Prisca Thevenot on April 30, emphasizing that “the government does not rule out publicly attributing these cyberattacks” in the future.