China accused the United States of launching cyberattacks against its National Time Service Centre, warning that such actions could have threatened the stability of the country’s communication networks, financial systems, and power supply.

In a statement posted Sunday on the Chinese social media platform WeChat, the Ministry of State Security claimed that the US National Security Agency (NSA) exploited weaknesses in the messaging service of an unnamed foreign mobile phone brand to steal sensitive data from the devices of staff at the time centre in 2022.

The ministry further alleged that the US agency deployed 42 types of “special cyberattack weapons” to infiltrate multiple internal networks at the centre and attempted to compromise a key timing system between 2023 and 2024.

The Chinese government said it had evidence but did not provide it in the post.

It stated that the time centre is responsible for generating and distributing China’s standard time, in addition to providing timing services to industries such as communications, finance, power, transportation, and defence.

The ministry added that it had provided guidance to the centre to eliminate the risks.

“The US is accusing others of what it does itself, repeatedly hyping up claims about Chinese cyber threats,” the post said.

Western governments in recent years have alleged hackers linked to the Chinese government have targeted officials, journalists, corporations and others. The ministry’s statement could exacerbate tensions between Washington and Beijing, in addition to issues related to trade, technology, and Taiwan.

The US Embassy did not address the Chinese allegation in an emailed response.

The response focused on China’s cyberattacks, calling them the most active and persistent threat to the US government and companies.