No End to the U.S.-China Cyberwars

At the close of their meeting in California, U.S. President Barack Obama and Communist Party of China Chairman Xi Jinping called for strengthened cooperation between the two countries. They managed to reach agreements on greenhouse gases and on North Korea’s nuclear program, but neither side was willing to make concessions regarding their competing spheres of influence in Asia or on the provision of weapons to Taiwan. According to experts, geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China are always present, so Washington and Beijing will have to make every effort to avoid deteriorating relations.

Obama and Xi Jinping pledged to create a new model of international relations between the two superpowers. During the two-day summit, which was held at the Sunnylands estate in California, the leaders’ positions on the North Korean nuclear dilemma drew closer together. As the Xinhua News Agency reports, China and the U.S. have common goals with regard to the issue. The Chinese are calling for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and are ready for the United States’ cooperation. However, that doesn’t mean that Washington and Beijing have agreed to act completely in harmony. Yang Jiechi, a member of China’s State Council, explained to reporters that while Beijing holds fast to the principle that the issue can be solved through dialogue and negotiations, it is well-known that Washington wants to use economic and political pressure to force North Korea to end its nuclear weapons program.

As it turned out, it was easier to come to a mutual understanding on the subject of greenhouse gas emissions. Obama and Xi agreed to undertake joint efforts to counteract global warming. According to The Washington Post, they agreed to curb the production and use of certain chemical substances in air conditioners and refrigerators. For the first time, the U.S. and China decided to work together to persuade other countries — in particular, Brazil and India — to curtail or cease their use of these substances. As a result, by 2050 carbon dioxide emissions could be reduced by approximately 90 gigatons.

During a joint press conference, Xi Jinping stressed the need for cooperation between the two countries’ militaries. This year, China’s minister of defense will visit the United States. No further details were offered, but it should be noted that the Pentagon has repeatedly called for a promotion of military exchanges and has criticized China for concealing information about its army and nuclear capabilities. The announcement by Xi Jinping can presumably be interpreted as a concrete step toward partnership with the U.S.

In a conversation with Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Aleksandr Larin, a research fellow at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Far East Institute, commented that, “the meeting demonstrated that neither China nor the U.S. wants to bring about a conflict.” At the same time, neither side was prepared to compromise on fundamental issues, such as their competing spheres of influence in Asia. China is adamant about retaining control over its territories in the South and East China Seas. China’s position on this issue remained unchanged, although Xi did speak of his desire to manage the dispute through peaceful methods.

In turn, the U.S. did not commit to halting its weapons provision to Taiwan. This topic is extremely sensitive for Washington because making concessions could undermine the trust of America’s partners, thereby crumbling its established network of Asian allies.

The Chinese press reports that the summit set the tone of relations between the two countries for the next 10 years. If that is so, then the leaders of China and the U.S. will have to make serious efforts to support collaboration and equilibrium. For its part, the U.S. presented China with the “Chimerica” plan, which proposes that the superpowers form a sort of duumvirate. China snubbed this plan. “The meeting in California bears witness to the fact that Chimerica is only a hypothetical idea. Its actual realization is improbable,” concluded one expert.

According to The New York Times, the most prevalent theme on the final day of the summit was cyberespionage. Previously, the U.S. has accused Chinese corporations, including ones with ties to the army, of stealing American military and economic secrets. Obama cautioned that continued hacking will not bode well for economic ties. Xi Jinping did not admit China’s guilt. Obama called for the creation of a hacking protection system.

Unfortunately, as a source from the American intelligence community told The Guardian, the United States’ complaints are hypocritical. After all, the U.S. itself has engaged in hacking operations with the objective of obtaining information. What’s more, the Sino-American summit hadn’t even finished before it came to light that in January, Obama issued the confidential “Directive 20,” which instructed national security bureaucrats to draw up a list of overseas targets for American cyberattacks. This directive is, in essence, a doctrine of aggressive cyberwar and the militarization of the Internet. The document states that a cyberwar could result in the loss of human life and retaliatory strikes. U.S. analysts warn that large-scale cyberoperations could easily escalate into a full-scale military conflict.