By Greg Austin
In 2015, there was a sharp turn in China’s policy on international aspects of cyber behavior.
In 2015, there was a sharp turn in China’s policy on international aspects of cyber behavior. This had two concurrent dimensions, one competitive and the other collaborative.
The turn toward more competitive positions included publication of the new defense strategy in May emphasizing the centrality of cyberspace, alongside outer space, as the “commanding heights” of international strategic competition. There were changes to domestic laws and regulations giving new priority to China’s sovereign control over cyber technologies and to the importance of such stepped-up control in order to protect national security.
There was also evidence of new determination to build up China’s civil ICT sector to better compete with global technology leaders (among which China does not yet sit). And China, like the United States, continued its aggressive reliance on economic espionage (to be distinguished from commercial espionage). China continues to pursue the perfection of the most intrusive and punitive system of cyber-enabled political surveillance ever seen in human history. China also was called out, somewhat naively, for having the temerity to conduct cyber espionage on South China Sea issues against its smaller neighbors
None of this should, however, blind us to the amazing turns for the better in China’s collaborative efforts in cyberspace issues in 2015 and what this says about leadership values on such collaboration. China’s new cooperative actions were predictable and stem from two sources: pragmatism (necessity) and normative engagement. On the one hand, China’s leaders demonstrated throughout 2015 that the country cannot achieve its own ambitions in cyberspace, including for economic development, without the help of the United States and its allies. On the other hand, China’s leaders actually do believe that there can be no security for China in cyber space without a stronger commitment by it (and other states) to stronger collaboration.
Read the full story at The Diplomat