A senior congressmen in the US is adamant that Chinese hackers had compromised his office computer network, which included his personal workstation as well as those of his staff.

Virginia Congressman Frank Wolf said the hacking occurred in 2006. He will introduce a bill to the House that will call for greater protection of computer networks, which he claims is unlikely to be an isolated incident.

“I am aware that computers in the offices of several other members were similarly compromised, as well as a major committee of the House – the Foreign Affairs Committee,” Congressman Wolf said in a statement.

“In subsequent meetings with House Information Resources and FBI officials, it was revealed that the outside sources responsible for this attack came from within the People's Republic of China,” he said.

“These cyber attacks permitted the source to probe our computers to evaluate our system's defenses, and to view and copy information. My suspicion is that I was targeted by Chinese sources because of my long history of speaking out about China's abysmal human rights record.”

An official from the Chinese foreign ministry rejected the allegations, urging the US not to be paranoid.

“We urge the US not to be paranoid and to do more that mutually benefits bilateral ties,” the spokesman said. “China is a developing nation. Do you think we have that kind of technology? I don't believe so.”