The government of a remote province in western China says it is investigating Coca-Cola over allegations that it illegally mapped parts of the province, as China and the US engage in an escalating war of words over cyber espionage.

中国西部偏远省份云南省政府表示，正在对可口可乐(Coca-Cola)涉嫌对该省部分地区非法测绘展开调查。中国和美国就网络间谍活动的口水仗日益升级。

The Yunnan Geographical Information Bureau of Surveying and Mapping said the US drinks company had been “illegally collecting classified information with handheld GPS equipment”, according to a Yunnan government website.

根据云南一个政府网站的报道，中国云南测绘地理信息局(Yunnan Geographical Information Bureau of Surveying and Mapping)表示，可口可乐一直在“使用手持GPS非法采集涉密信息”。

Coca-Cola said it had “co-operated fully” with the inquiry, adding that local bottling plants use “e-map and location-based customer logistics systems that are commercially available in China” to improve customer service and fuel efficiency.

可口可乐表示，该公司“完全配合”此次调查，并补充称，当地灌装厂使用“可在中国通过商业渠道获得的电子地图以及基于地理位置的客户物流系统”来改善客户服务和提高燃油效率。

“These customer logistics systems are broadly used for commercial application across many industries in China and worldwide,” the company said.

该公司称：“这些客户物流系统广泛运用于中国和世界各地许多行业的商业应用场合。”

The Yunnan government said the Coca-Cola case was one of 21 instances of alleged illegal surveying under investigation in the area, which also included others’ illegal sales of classified military maps online, aerial photography by unmanned aircraft, and illegal surveying of military bases.

云南省政府表示，可口可乐的案子是该地区展开调查的21起涉嫌非法测绘的案件之一，这些案件还包括其他人在网上非法售卖涉密军事地图，无人机航拍影像以及非法测绘军事基地。

The bureau gave no further details of the Coca-Cola investigation, but a bureau official who gave his surname as Han said the investigation would end soon. “We will announce the results when it ends,” he told the Financial Times in an interview. “It is a bit sensitive. I don’t know how it got published,” he added.

云南测绘局没有进一步披露可口可乐调查的细节，但该局一位韩姓官员表示，调查将很快结束。他在接受英国《金融时报》采访时表示：“我们将在调查结束时宣布结果。这件事有些敏感，我不知道它是怎么得到发表的。”

Beijing and Washington have recently ratcheted up their mutual accusations about cyberspying, with the White House on Monday calling on China to take “serious steps” to stop extensive hacking of US companies and start negotiating international rules for behaviour in cyberspace.

北京和华盛顿方面最近就网络间谍活动加大了互相攻讦的力度。美国政府周一呼吁中国采取“认真步骤”停止对美国企业的大范围黑客活动，并开始就规范网络空间行为的国际规则展开谈判。

The comments in the New York Times and other leading newspapers followed reports of Chinese hacking, as well as high-profile research from US cybersecurity company Mandiant which for the first time linked extensive cyberattacks on US businesses to a specific unit of the Chinese military in Shanghai.

近期有报道称，中国对《纽约时报》和其他主要报纸发起黑客攻击，同时美国网络安全公司曼迪昂特(Mandiant)发表了令人瞩目的研究结果，首次把针对美国企业的大范围网络攻击与解放军在上海的一支部队联系起来。

A recent New York Times report on hacking by the military unit said Coca-Cola had itself been a target.

《纽约时报》在最近报道该机构的黑客攻击活动时表示，可口可乐也是目标之一。

Yang Jiechi, China’s foreign minister, has rejected allegations of Chinese military involvement in hacking. “Anyone who tries to fabricate or piece together a sensational story to serve their political motive will not be able to blacken the name of others or whitewash themselves,” he said at the weekend.

中国外交部长杨洁篪否认了中国军方卷入黑客活动的指控。他在上周末表示：“出于政治目的编造和拼凑耸人听闻的新闻，既抹黑不了别人，也洗白不了自己。”