Zee Media Bureau
Washington: Hitting out at claims of him being called a Chinese spy, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden said that he "had no contact with the Chinese government" and that he had pre-empted that such allegations would be levelled against him.
Snowden, who is believed to be hiding in Hong Kong after exposing the top secret US government surveillance programmes, also said that he revealed the secrets out of disappointment with President Barack Obama as he ‘expanded abusive programs’ and didn’t put efforts to end human rights violations in Guantanamo Bay.
Snowden was answering to questions in an online chat hosted by the website of British newspaper The Guardian.
Snowden’s clarification came after ex-US Vice President Dick Cheney accused him of being a traitor and sharing classified information with China.
Saying that he had already anticipated the smear, Snowden said, "If I were a Chinese spy, why wouldn`t I have flown directly into Beijing? I could be living in a palace petting a phoenix by now."
Snowden also said that by calling him a traitor, the US had proved that he wouldn’t get a fair trial.
“The US govt has destroyed any possibility of a fair trial at home, openly declaring me guilty of treason and that the disclosure of secret, criminal and even unconstitutional acts is an unforgivable crime. That`s not justice,” he said.
In a scathing comment on President Obama, Snowden lashed out at him saying that he had not lived up to his 2008 campaign promises and instead promoted abusive security programs.
Snowded added that Obama "closed the door on investigating systemic violations of law, deepened and expanded several abusive programs, and refused to spend the political capital to end the kind of human rights violations like we see in Guantanamo, where men still sit without charge."
Defending the surveillance programmes, Obama on PBS`s "Charlie Rose" show said that the NSA programmes were transparent.
"It is transparent," Obama told PBS` Charlie Rose in an interview broadcast Monday. "That`s why we set up the FISA court," he added, referring to the secret court set up by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that authorizes two recently disclosed programs.
"We`re going to have to find ways where the public has an assurance that there are checks and balances in place ... that their phone calls aren`t being listened into; their text messages aren`t being monitored, their emails are not being read by some big brother somewhere," Obama said.
"What I can say unequivocally is that if you are a U.S. person, the NSA cannot listen to your telephone calls, and the NSA cannot target your emails ... and have not," Obama said in the interview broadcast on Monday.
