BEIJING - CHINA has rejected a report that hackers controlled by its military had successfully entered a Pentagon network, calling the claim a product of 'Cold War' thinking.

The Financial Times, citing former and serving US officials, said Chinese People's Liberation Army hackers broke into a US Defence Department network in June, taking data and prompting the shutdown of a system serving department secretary Robert Gates.

The report came a week after German Chancellor Angela Merkel raised similar claims that Chinese hackers had infected German government ministries with spying programmes.

China deflected the German reports, and now it has flatly rejected the US claims, as well as denying reports that Chinese-made weapons have been used by Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.

'The Chinese government has consistently opposed and vigorously attacked according to the law all Internet-wrecking crimes, including hacking,' Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said.

'Some people are making wild accusations against China...They are totally groundless and also reflect a Cold War mentality.'

Beijing has devoted a large part of its rising defence budget to developing more advanced technology, including computer capabilities. But Jiang said her government was also the victim of computer attacks.

Chinese military
The Financial Times cited one source familiar with the event as saying there was a 'very high level of confidence...trending towards total certainty' that the army was behind it.

It said hackers from various locations in China had spent several months trying to tap into the system before breaching its cyber defences, forcing the Pentagon to shut down its network for more than a week.

US President George W. Bush is scheduled to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao in Sydney while the two leaders are there for the Apec regional summit. -- REUTERS