US President Barack Obama on Wednesday raised US concerns about China’s cyber behaviour during a White House meeting with Chinese officials at the end of two days of talks on strategy and economy.
A Chinese official indicated that China was willing to cooperate with the US on the issue.
Cyber security has been at the top of the US agenda over past weeks amid revelations that hackers have stolen millions of files on current and former US government employees.
During a hearing Wednesday, House Oversight Committee chairman Jason Chaffetz suggested that the hack has put up to 32 million people at risk – some of them for sensitive information submitted to obtain security clearances.
While there has not been an official charge that the hacking came from private or official sources in China, unidentified officials widely quoted in news reports have indicated as much.
In comments at the State Department late Wednesday, Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi vowed that China will “crack down on all forms of cyber hacking.”
Yang also said China was ready to cooperate with the United States on cybersecurity issues and improve cyber relations – but only “on the basis of mutual respect and equality and mutual benefit.”
Kerry said there had been no confrontations on the cyber issue during the meetings, but added: “We made crystal clear this is not acceptable.”
“China also has an interest to make sure everybody is behaving by a certain set of standards,” Kerry said. “President Obama made that very clear at the meeting at the White House.”
Obama “urged China to take concrete steps to lower tensions” not only on the cyber issue but also on maritime behaviour, according to a readout provided by the White House after he met with the Chinese officials.
China has been expanding tiny disputed islands and reefs in the South China Sea with landfill, and has built ports, airstrips and other facilities on them.
The activity is at the center of growing tensions within the region and with the US.
Yang insisted that his country’s activities posed no threat to navigation in the South China Sea and that it was important for the United States to “respect China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity [and] the development path chosen by China’s people.”
The meeting was the sixth annual such session and served as the setup for President Xi Jingping’s visit to Washington in September.
On other issues, the US and China indicated increased cooperation on climate change, ocean preservation and people-to-people exchanges.
They also agreed to work toward establishing a marine protected area in the Antarctic’s Ross Sea – “one of the world’s last remaining pristine marine environments,” Kerry said.
Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said “enormous” progress had been made over the past year on the currency exchange issue. The US has charged that China artificially deflates its currency valuation in order to keep down the price of its exports.
China was prepared to be “more transparent” on the issues of monetary policy and interventions, Lew said.
“The real test is going to be when there is upwards pressure on the renminbi,” he said. It was an open question whether China would refrain from intervening, he said.
Lew said China’s efforts to change to a more consumer-driven economy had slowed China’s economic growth, and Chinese officials have been “very candid” about that fact.
While the US believes reforms should move ahead with more urgency, the Chinese “for understandable reasons” are concerned about disruption if they move too quickly, Lew said.
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