German govt had no recent talks with Beijing over cybersecurity – spokesman

The German government has not held talks with Beijing about cybersecurity issues in recent weeks, a spokesman said on Friday. A WirtschaftsWoche report on Tuesday cited security sources as saying that Chancellor Angela Merkel was seeking a no-spying deal with China over the Huawei issue. The  telecommunications giant is facing intense scrutiny in the West over its alleged relationship with the Chinese government and allegations of enabling state espionage, which it denies. Spokesman Steffen Seibert said Germany and China regularly hold talks on how to prevent malicious cyber activities. The two sides have previously agreed that they would protect confidential company data and ensure safe cross-border data transfers when making and implementing cyber laws, according to Seibert.