A major cyber-espionage policy breakthrough was not reached between US President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jingping at an historic summit in California, although both sides agreed to cooperate over the denuclearization of North Korea.
Following a two-day informal summit in the California desert
which featured nearly 8 hours of talks and a candlelit dinner,
the heralded “new model” of future relations between the
US and China was also beset by moments of tension.
Obama pressed Xi to do more about allegations of widespread
intellectual property theft stemming from China, claiming such
actions could hinder economic relations between the two states.
Tom Donilon, Obama’s national security advisor, said the US
president outlined a series of cases involving massive digital
theft by entities in China, stressing that cyber-theft is now
“at the center of the relationship. It’s not an adjunct
issue.”
Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi told reporters Beijing hoped
the issue of cyber-security between China and the United States
should be one of cooperation, not contention.
“Cybersecurity should not become the root cause of mutual
suspicion and friction, rather it should be a new bright spot in
our cooperation,” Yang said.
On Friday, Xi rebuffed accusations that China was responsible for
a raft of cyber-attacks targeting the US military and
corporations, saying: “China is a victim of cyber- attacks and
we hope that earnest measures can be taken to resolve this
matter.”
A US Defense Science Board report recently claimed around 40
Pentagon weapons programs and almost 30 other defense
technologies had been compromised by Chinese hackers, some
purportedly tied to the military or government.
A report published in May by the Commission on the Theft of
American Intellectual Property estimated the US economy
hemorrhages $300 billion a year from such illicit practices, with
China being named as the primary culprit.
Despite the perennial cyber sticking point, Obama heralded the
talks as “terrific,” while Yang said the two leaders had
“blazed a new trail” in what he called a “strategic,
constructive and historic meeting.”
Regarding tensions on the Korean peninsula, Donilon said the
Chinese were forthcoming about their fears surrounding nuclear
proliferation in North Korea. Obama’s top security advisor
continued that both leaders “agreed that North Korea has to
denuclearize, that neither country will accept North Korea as a
nuclear-armed state and that we would work together to deepen
cooperation and dialogue to achieve denuclearization.”
Yang confirmed that China and the US were “the same in their
positions and objectives” on the North Korean nuclear issue.
Although China has tempered UN sanctions targeting North Korea
over fears all-out economic collapse could threaten its own
security, Beijing has grown increasingly impatient with
Pyongyang’s erratic behavior and nuclear threats.
Environmental policy was another surprise area of consensus, with
Obama and Xi agreeing for the first time jointly to phase down
consumption and production of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a potent
greenhouse gas used in refrigerators, air conditioners, and
industrial applications.
“A global phase down of HFCs could potentially reduce some 90
gigatons of CO2 equivalent by 2050, equal to roughly two
years-worth of current global greenhouse gas emissions,” the
White House said in a statement posted on its website following
the summit.
Underpinning the talks were the US military “pivot” toward
Asia, and China’s increased military assertiveness in the region.
The US has previously urged China not to use force or act
unilaterally to resolve a heated territorial dispute with Japan
over the Senkaku Islands — known as the Diaoyu in China — in the
East China Sea.
Xi for his part reportedly told Obama that Beijing hopes
Washington will commit itself to the “one China” principle,
urging the United States to halt arms shipments to Taiwan.
Geopolitical analyst William Engdahl believes the cyber-security
focus of the talks is directly related to the US Asia pivot.
“I think [cyber-security] is a red herring issue right now
designed by Washington, by the Obama administration to put
pressure on China at a time when the US is doing just that with
the so-called Asia pivot, which really is a China pivot,”
Engdahal believes.
The summit was the first meeting between the two leaders since Xi
became president in March. US officials hope that Xi, who briefly
lived in the US and sent his daughter to university in the United
States, will present an opportunity for deeper cooperation
between the two states.
The two leaders will likely meet again on the sidelines of an
international economic summit in Russia set for September. Xi
also invited Obama to visit China soon for another round of
similarly informal talks.
This article originally appeared on: RT