China denied accusations that hackers in the country have attacked computers of U.S. Congressmen, Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., and New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith, a senior Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, two outspoken critics of China's human rights record.

The two lawmakers allege that they were targeted because of their criticism towards China. However, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang rejected accusations and said that his country does not have the necessary technology for such a high-tech endeavor. The spokesman denied any involvement of his government into the sponsoring of hackers who perform attacks abroad and pointed out that they also strike inside China.

European countries as well have accused China in the past of sponsoring hackers to break into their computers to steal classified information, especially in Britain and Germany. The Bush administration has been quiet on these accusations, but one of the two Republican congressmen, Wolf, said that the FBI informed him that he is not the only victim of cyber attacks from China, and several of his colleagues have been hit as well.

At the same time, Wolf acknowledged that hackers could have just used China as a cover and the attack may have originated somewhere else. However, he backs his accusations by the fact that a specially designed virus was found which was programmed to search and send information about China.

Wolf says that the four staff computers which were allegedly broken into were exactly those which stored information about all of the casework he and his staff have done on behalf of political dissidents and human rights activists around the world.

There are other issues as well here which Wolf and his fellows have disregarded. Hacking is a fact and can affect everybody. The question is how was it possible for sensitive data such as that which is alleged to have been exposed to be available in plain view on a computer connected to the Internet. An investigation should also start against the two Congressmen and their negligent staff.