Snowden accuses US of hacking into Chinese mobile firms

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has accused the US authorities of hacking into Chinese mobile phone companies to access millions of private text messages.

His latest claims came as US officials, who have filed criminal charges against him, warned Hong Kong to comply with an extradition request or risk complicating diplomatic relations.

Some politicians in Hong Kong have called for Snowden to be protected.

According to the Herald Sun, the latest developments will raise fears that America's action may have pushed Snowden into the hands of the Chinese.

Based on documents from Snowden, the Guardian reported that Britain's spy agency GCHQ has secretly gained access to the network of cables carrying the world's phone calls and Internet traffic, without the authorities having made this known to the public, the report said.

Snowden had also passed on information detailing NSA attacks on China's prestigious Tsinghua University, which is the hub of a major digital network from which data on millions of Chinese citizens could be harvested, it added.