The Chinese military has been accused of hacking into a computer network belonging to the United States Department of Defense, allegations vehemently denied by Beijing officials.

According to a report published in the Financial Times, specialists from the People's Liberation Army (PLA) managed to by-pass security layers and enter the network used by members of the defence secretary’s office in June, prompting the Pentagon to shut down the system for more than a week.

US officials told the newspaper this attack raises concerns about the cyberwarfare developed by China.

“The PLA has demonstrated the ability to conduct attacks that disable our system ... and the ability in a conflict situation to re-enter and disrupt on a very large scale,” a security official reportedly told the newspaper.

A spokeswoman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry said the report is “groundless and also a demonstration of Cold War thinking.”

”The Chinese government has all along opposed and forbidden activities that undermine computer networks, including hacking,” Jiang Yu said Tuesday.

“China is a frequent victim of hacking … and is ready to strengthen cooperation with other countries, including the US, in countering internet crimes,” the official added.

The same newspaper said June’s attack is not an isolated case and China’s army has been involved in other similar attacks targeting the networks of defence companies and even the Pentagon’s systems numerous times.

Last week, hackers managed to break into the computer network of Germany’s government and infiltrate spy programs. German experts traced the connection and said the attacks came from members of the Chinese army.

The attacks targeted computers from the Foreign Ministry, the Economics Ministry, the Research and Development Ministry and the office of Chancellor Angela Merkel. According to the weekly magazine Der Spiegel, intelligence officials said the computers were infected with spyware programs several moths ago.

The news broke out just two days before Merkel met with the Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao during her Asian tour. The premier said the Beijing government will take drastic measures if needed to rout out such illegal practices which taint the country’s image.