WASHINGTON: The United States and a coalition of allies accused China on Monday of a global cyber hacking campaign that employed contract hackers, specifically attributing a large Microsoft attack disclosed earlier this year to actors working on Beijing's behalf.

Opening a new area of tensions with China, the United States is joined by NATO, the European Union, Britain, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Canada to level the allegations.

"The United States and countries around the world are holding the People's Republic of China accountable for its pattern of irresponsible, disruptive, and destabilizing behavior in cyberspace, which poses a major threat to our economic and national security," U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a statement on Monday.

Also on Monday, the U.S. Justice Department said four Chinese nationals - three security officials and one contract hacker - were charged in a global hacking campaign aimed at dozens of companies, universities and government agencies in the United States and abroad. The activities took place between 2011 and 2018 that focused on information that would significantly benefit Chinese companies and businesses, it said.

The opening of a new front in the governments' war against hacking comes a month after G7 and NATO leaders agreed with President Joe Biden at summits in Cornwall, England, and Brussels in accusing China of posing systemic challenges to the world order.

The governments formally attributed intrusions into the Microsoft Exchange Server that were disclosed in March to "cyber actors affiliated with" China's Ministry of State Security, Blinken.

The governments formally attributed intrusions exploiting vulnerabilities in the Microsoft Exchange Server that were disclosed in March "cyber actors affiliated with" China's Ministry of State Security, Blinken said.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Chinese officials have previously said China is also a victim of hacking and opposes all forms of cyber attacks.

U.S. officials said the scope and scale of hacking attributed to China has surprised them, along with China's use of "criminal contract hackers."