By Shannon Tiezzi
If Obama’s new executive order is used to sanction Chinese firms, how will Beijing respond?
As my colleague Ankit noted, U.S. President Barack Obama just signed an executive order that will permit the government to take financial action (including sanctions) against foreign individuals and groups that commit cyberattacks against U.S. interests. The order allows the Treasury Department to freeze the assets of entities determined to be responsible for, complicit in, or assisting the cyber theft of trade secrets for financial gain or competitive advantage.
Given that Chinese firms and the Chinese government alike are frequently accused of such cyber theft, the executive order may well face its first major test from Beijing. The U.S. government has already proven willing to publicly charge Chinese citizens with hacking, but the previous indictment of five PLA officers was purely symbolic – the new executive order could mean crippling sanctions for Chinese firms.
Beijing objected fiercely to the toothless indictment of its PLA officers; however, it’s likely to have a far more vociferous response to sanctions against Chinese firms (if it comes to that). Asked about the new executive order, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters that “China always disapproves one country’s willful use of sanctions on citizens and entities of another country.” She also repeated China’s customary point that cyberattacks are transnational and “hard to trace back” to their point of origin. Hua said that “China firmly opposes and combats any form of cyberattack,” but that clearly doesn’t mean Beijing approves of the new executive order.
Read the full story at The Diplomat