Cyber Peace? The U.S and China Reach an ‘Understanding’

US President Barack Obama announced that he had reached an ‘understanding’ on cyber security with Chinese President Xi and that neither government would knowingly support the theft of corporate intellectual property and information.  By Jamie Collier

The prominence of cyber security in US-China relations demonstrates the political and strategic significance of an issue once relegated to IT help desks.

The talks highlight the on-going process of governments developing norms on acceptable rule of behaviour in the cyber domain. Most states broadly agree with a United Nations peacetime norm stating that attacks on states’ vitals services and critical national infrastructure are unacceptable. Conversely, traditional government-to government espionage is often tolerated. US-China discussions contained no promises to refrain from government-to-government spying for intelligence gathering purposes. This could possibly include the recent US Office for Personal Management (OPM) data breach that was believed to be of Chinese origin. Traditional government-to-government espionage is largely seen as fair game, where it is acknowledged that most states conduct espionage to some degree. Further, in the wake of Edward Snowden’s NSA revelations, the US would find it increasingly difficult to argue against other states doing so. 

Recent US-China discussions focused specifically on corporate espionage. The US has previously struggled to deter China (as well as other states) from engaging in this behaviour. Western states such as the US have tried to draw a line between intelligence gathering for national security purposes, largely seen as acceptable and corporate espionage, viewed as unacceptable.

This largely highlights broader political differences between the US and China. Within China, many businesses are owned and run by the state. This means the distinction between the two forms of espionage is less clear compared to in the US. Further, corporate espionage has a closer direct link to Chinese national interests. 

Recent US-China cyber attacks have also highlighted the difficulties faced by officials formulating state strategy in the cyber domain. The US has previously struggled to deter Chinese corporate espionage despite gradually escalating its response.  

Precedents of escalation are still being established in the cyber domain with the US gradually increasing its response to cyber attacks.  

Last year, the US government charged five Chinese military hackers for cyber espionage and earlier this year the US placed economic sanction on North Korea for its alleged role in the Sony data breach. In the run up to President Xi’s visit, the US appeared willing to use economic sanctions to deter further attacks and it seems a combination of this threat, along with diplomacy, has led to an agreement.

However, it remains to be seen if the agreement will lead to concrete curbing of attacks on US businesses. Further, with escalation precedents still being established, perhaps the more interesting question what America’s next move will be if attacks continue. 
 
Jamie Collier is completing  a Doctorate in Cyber Security at Oxford University