Chinese Foreign Ministry denies opening an official account on Twitter

Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday denied opening an official account on Twitter account which remained inaccessible in China through a large part of its official media uses it to highlight their news content. "It looks real?. You are being fooled by this," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a media briefing here when asked about a Twitter account claiming to be that of Chinese Foreign Ministry.

"It is further proof that on cybersecurity we must have a discerning eye. We must adopt a cooperative approach and deal with the risks and challenges by global cooperation," Lu said. He, however, skirted a question whether his ministry has complained to the microblogging platform Twitter about the account being operated in its name.

Internal social media, including Twitter and Facebook, besides internet giant Google, remained blocked by Chinese firewalls. They can be accessed only through VPNs, (Virtual Private Networks) which circumvent the Chinese firewalls. Though Twitter is not allowed in China, it is widely used by official media like state-run Xinhua news agency, various newspapers and official television channel CGTN to highlight their news content.

(With inputs from agencies.)