BEIJING: China will beef up its internet security in response to recent reports that the US government spied on a major telecommunications firm, the Defence Ministry said on Thursday.

Reports that the US National Security Agency infiltrated servers at the headquarters of Huawei Technologies Co. "lay bare the United States's hypocrisy and despotic rule," ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng told a briefing.

"For a while now, some Americans have jabbered on and on, condemning Chinese hacking attacks," he said. "But the truth is that this is without any basis in fact, it's simply a thief crying 'Stop, thief!'"

The ministry did not say what steps would be taken to strengthen Internet security.

The White House has said that the US does not spy to gain commercial advantage. Cyber-espionage has cast a shadow over China-US ties, with each side accusing the other of spying.

On Saturday, The New York Times and German magazine Der Spiegel published articles on information about Huawei contained in classified documents given to journalists by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

In the same briefing, Geng warned the United States not to sell arms to Taiwan, which China sees as a rogue province. US sales of weapons to the democratic and self-ruled island have long incensed Beijing.

Asked about a mass stabbing at a train station in a southwestern city in March that left 29 dead and about 140 wounded, Geng said that the military was well prepared to "strike back at all kinds of violent terrorist activities".