Sir Iain Duncan Smith has condemned the British government's Chinese stance following yet another humiliating hack of sensitive data.
Last night Sky News revealed that China had hacked Ministry of Defense data and secured a major data breach.
Although the government has so far refused to name the perpetrators of the cyber attack, it is believed that China was once again responsible.
The attack took place on a payroll system filled with information about current and former military personnel, including names and banking information.
While China's Foreign Ministry said it “strongly combats and combats all forms of cyber attacks” and “politically rejects the use of this issue to defame other countries”, Sir Iain Duncan Smith reacted angrily this morning.
The former Tory leader, who has been at the forefront of warning about the threat from China, accused the British response of being “hopeless”.
He told Sky News: “Keep in mind that the government is hugely dependent on China: hardly a car is produced in Europe, they are all produced in China….”
“All of this is part of that total dependence on China, and China knows that and that is where it is throwing its weight.
“America is starting to become aware of this and is taking much harder action.
'We've actually been quite hopeless! Just look at what happened almost two years ago: the electoral commission with all the names and details was hacked, and nothing was said about it at the time in terms of how bad that was and who did it, until four weeks ago, almost two years ago . later on!
“When they hacked at the same time, we were told that a 'handful of MPs' did that, which is not correct, and they hacked between 30 and 40 MPs. happened and we still haven't said anything about this until 4/5 weeks ago.
“So China is behind this, and the reluctance, I think, comes from this panic that if we upset China, somehow China will kill the company.
“That's not going to happen! China itself is desperate for trade right now, so they're going to blow the whistle on us, but we have to recognize that if we don't stand up to defend our freedoms, our human rights, our right to express ourselves If we wish to speak it then we are worthless in the free world.
He concluded ominously: “China is winning this war and we are not even willing to accept that it is a war!”
Defense Secretary Grant Shapps will make a statement to the House of Commons today, setting out a “multi-point plan” of action to protect those affected by the MoD hack.
Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said this morning that China is a “game-changing challenge” and promised that Britain's “eyes are wide open”.
He warned that Britain must “get the balance right” when it comes to Beijing.