Merkel phone tapping claims 'noted': Chinese FM

BEIJING - China has "noted" that Germany has opened an investigation into claims the United States eavesdropped on German Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone conversations, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Friday.

China has always opposed endangering national security of other countries and invasion of others' privacy through information and communication technology, spokesman Hong Lei said at a daily press briefing.

According to a report by German news agency DPA, Germany's top prosecutor Harald Range on Wednesday said at a press conference that he had launched a probe against "unknown individuals" as a result of actions undertaken by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA).

He said the investigation could include questioning former U.S.intelligence employee Edward Snowden, whose leak of thousands of classified documents to the media contained the revelations about the tapping of Merkel's phone.

Last month, a report by China's Internet Media Research Center said an investigation carried out by various Chinese government departments over several months confirmed the existence of U.S. snooping activities directed against China.

The report described China as a main target of the U.S. secret surveillance.