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 Department’s decision to indict five members of the Chinese People’s 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 administration’s frustration with China’s 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 China’s president, Xi Jinping, at last year’s 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 People’s 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 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 Department’s 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 America’s 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 China’s 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 China’s 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.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment