By Shannon Tiezzi
The dialogue on cybercrime announced during Xi’s visit to the U.S. holds its first round of talks.
China and the United States will hold the first round a new dialogue on fighting cybercrime this week in Washington DC. According to Reuters, China’s minister of public security, Guo Shengkun, arrived in Washington on Tuesday for the talks and will depart on Sunday. Guo met with U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson and Attorney General Loretta Lynch on Tuesday for the opening of the talks.
Cyber issues, and particularly Chinese government-sponsored hacking for commercial gain, was a major focus of the Obama administration heading in to President Xi Jinping’s September 2015 state visit to the United States. After threatening to slap China with sanctions for such hacking, the administration was able to get Beijing to agree “that neither country’s government will conduct or knowingly support cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property, including trade secrets or other confidential business information, with the intent of providing competitive advantages to companies or commercial sectors.” It’s a promise of dubious worth, considering China has always officially denied carrying out hacking activities of any kind.
Of more potential value was the announcement of a new, high-level cyber dialogue – not only a replacement for but an upgrade to the working-level talks that were discontinued when China pulled out after the United States indicted five PLA officers for cybercrimes. According to a White House fact sheet issued during Xi’s visit, the two sides agreed “to establish a high-level joint dialogue mechanism on fighting cybercrime and related issues.” The dialogue would be led by a then-undetermined ministerial-level official from China (now known to be Guo of the Ministry of Public Security) and by Johnson and Lynch on the U.S. side. In addition, China’s Ministry of State Security, Ministry of Justice, and State Internet and Information Office and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and intelligence agencies would participate.
Read the full story at The Diplomat