More than unhelpful, it is unjustified for some officials in the United States to try and make China the bogeyman to try and deflect the anger and mistrust generated by the disclosures of its pervasive snooping, said a Xinhua opinion piece.

Last week, US Congressman Mike Rogers told members of the European Parliament in Brussels that if the European Union continued "muddling" the debate over the US' spying on European citizens and institutions, it might "help China spy on European and American companies".

He claimed that Chinese cyber espionage has already cost the US economy some $400 billion and called for forming a "united front against industrial espionage from China".

These remarks were instantly and rightly slammed as "ridiculous" by the Chinese mission to the EU, which said certain parties should address their own problems rather than attempting to divert the world's attention by making such irresponsible allegations.

Instead of offering a sincere apology for its insidious and paranoid spying, Washington has used fighting terrorism as an excuse to try and paper over its long-time habitual eavesdropping on its own people, foreign citizens and leaders alike.

What's worse, calling black white and up down, some US officials have not hesitated in trying to tar China with that brush.

Not long ago, the US accused the Chinese military of engaging in cyber espionage to "steal proprietary economic and trade information", and claimed that public exposure had not led China to "change its attitude".

That unfounded charge was rebutted by Beijing, which pointed out that China is a major victim of cyberattacks and strives to promote international cooperation in the spirit of mutual respect and trust to formulate a cyberspace code of conduct under the framework of the United Nations.

And those who have played up the anti-China rhetoric on the issue of cyber espionage might have also forgotten that Edward Snowden, the US security leaker, disclosed that US spy agencies had hacked deep into China's computer networks, including those of government, military, research, educational and business organizations.

Self-reflection, rather than self-deception, is certainly more useful in restoring trust.

Therefore, should the US have a real interest in protecting cyber security and information security at large, it should behave itself in the first place, and abandon its childish trick of trying to deflect the blame on others.

(China Daily USA 12/26/2013 page11)