China’s Ministry of National Defense quickly denied charges outlined in a widely circulated report from information security firm Mandiant that exposed a specific unit of the People’s Liberation Army as responsible for hacking against the U.S. and other countries.

Reuters reports a statement published on the Ministry’s official website called into question the evidence put forth by The New York Times, saying, “The report, in only relying on linking IP address to reach a conclusion the hacking attacks originated from China, lacks technical proof.”

Well, thanks to the shrewd detective work of Chinese netizens, we now have further evidence–a 2004 notice, still viewable on the website of Zhejiang University (at the time of this article’s publication), titled “China’s People’s Liberation Army Unit 61398 Recruiting Graduate Students” [zh].

The Graduate School has received notice that Unit 61398 of China’s People’s Liberation Army (located in Pudong District, Shanghai) seeks to recruit 2003-class computer science graduate students. Students who sign the service contract will receive a 5,000 yuan per year National Defense Scholarship. After graduation, students will work in the same field within the PLA. Interested Zhejiang University 2003-class graduate students should please contact Teacher Peng in the Graduate Division before May 20. (Cao Guangbiao room 108; phone: 87952168) Graduate Division

May 13, 2004

Via CDT Chinese. Translated by Little Bluegill.