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SUNDAYREVIEW | EDITORIAL
America, China and the Hacking Threat
By THE EDITORIAL BOARD MAY 24, 2014
Over several years of trying to persuade China to stop cyberattacks against
corporate America, the Obama administration has gotten nowhere. What
officials say is the most aggressive effort by any country to steal secrets
from some of the most prominent and successful American companies is
still going strong. Losses are estimated at billions of dollars in profits and
thousands of jobs.
In this context, the Justice Departments decision to indict five
members of the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army for fraud is
understandable as a feel-good gesture and seems within the parameters of
American law. As a matter of substance, though, it is pointless and
perhaps counterproductive.
The indictments reflect the administrations frustration with Chinas
resistance to proposals that differences about cybersnooping be discussed
through diplomatic channels and that rules of the road be worked out. To
underscore American seriousness, President Obama raised the issue with
Chinas president, Xi Jinping, at last years summit meeting in California,
but that seemed to have little effect.
The 31-point indictment, in the works for two years, named members
of Unit 61398, which was publicly identified last year as the Shanghai-
based cyber unit of the Peoples Liberation Army. It alleged that since
2006, the hacking unit invaded the networks of American corporations,
including Westinghouse Electric and the United States Steel Corporation,
copying their emails and infecting computers with malware. Such
5/25/2014 America, China and the Hacking Threat - NYTimes.com
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behavior cannot go unchallenged. Hacking deprives firms of proprietary
intellectual property that they have spent billions of dollars and countless
hours developing. It compromises an Internet that depends on the free
flow of information.
Mr. Obama is always under political pressure, some of it no doubt
from American corporations, to act tough with China. Still, the Justice
Departments unprecedented legal action has serious weaknesses and is
largely symbolic.
It is hard to imagine, first of all, that the indicted men will present
themselves in the United States for trial. The administration also has
drawn a tenuous distinction between spying for national security reasons
and spying on foreign companies for economic advantage, which it says
must not be permitted. But Americas own practices are a problem. As
National Security Agency documents made public by Edward Snowden
revealed, the United States regularly uses cyberspying to gain economic
advantage in trade talks. Many other countries, including France, are also
aggressive in spying to benefit domestic companies.
The case has certainly gotten Chinas attention. The Chinese state
media petulantly called the United States a mincing rascal for lodging
the case. More substantively, the Chinese have called off the bilateral
working group that was the only venue dedicated to cyberissues, and they
have announced plans for tighter checks on foreign technology companies
doing business in China.
It would be unfortunate if China used the confrontation to withdraw
totally from cooperating with the United States, especially on improving
relations between the two militaries an effort that has just begun to gain
traction. Tensions have already risen over Chinas aggressive moves in the
South China and East China seas.
China, as a rising economic power, believes that ferreting out the
business secrets of foreign companies is a national security interest. One
day, however, it will have its own pathbreaking achievements and will
want to protect them.
5/25/2014 America, China and the Hacking Threat - NYTimes.com
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The responsible thing would be for China to work with the United
States now to establish rules of the road that would reduce economic
hacking and equip the two countries with strategies for reacting to
cyberattacks during military-related tensions. Washington should make
clear that the option for dialogue on cyberissues remains open, even as it
pursues its legal case.
Meet The New York Timess Editorial Board
A version of this editorial appears in print on May 25, 2014, on page SR10 of the New York edition
with the headline: America, China and the Hacking Threat.
2014 The New York Times Company