Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Washington on Thursday (September 24) for a state visit and talks with President Barack Obama that are expected to be clouded by differences over alleged Chinese cyber spying, Beijing’s economic policies and territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
Cyber security remains a hot issue in the U.S. – Chinese relations as Washington is considering sanctions against Chinese companies and individuals it accuses of stealing U.S. trade secrets.
Responding to U.S. allegations that China has been behind cyber attacks affecting American business and government databases, Xi insisted during his visit to Seattle that the Communist government in Beijing did not support such activities and pledged to work with the United States to fight cyber crime.
Chinese delegation spokesman Lu Kang did not make clear whether any deal on a “high-level” cyber dialogue was dependent on the United States dropping indictments against five Chinese military officials on hacking charges that led to the suspension of a joint working group on cyber issues last year.
However, he said any deal would depend on three principles of “mutual respect, mutual benefit and equality.”
“Without that, I don’t think there will be any cooperation,” said Kang.
While Obama’s aides say no formal cyber security agreement is likely, China’s top Internet regulator suggested in a closed-door session with U.S. executives in Seattle this week that a basic deal against cyber warfare was possible, according to one person present.
