Obama Handshakes China’s Xi, while Holding
Cybercrime Stick in OtherBy Finian
Cunningham
September 29, 2015 "Information
Clearing House" -
While there were several points of apparent
accord reached between the US and China during President Xi
Jinping’s state visit, the issue of cybercrime will continue to be a
source of tension going forward. Tension that will be unilaterally
and cynically exploited by Washington for its ulterior geopolitical
aim of demonising and browbeating China.
The problem partly
stems from Washington being able to propagate its sly, prejudicial
attitude towards China. Smiles and handshakes aside, the United
States’ official mentality harbours and projects a demeaning
presumption of Chinese guilt over cybercrime.
That mentality is
manifest in the arrogant way that the United States government
during President Xi’s visit managed to appoint itself as «judge and
jury» to arbitrate on this contentious issue.
Washington’s truculent
attitude is quite a feat of reality-inversion considering its own
proven global NSA spying operations, as revealed by Edward Snowden;
as well as its known state-sponsored hacking operations against
countries, such as when it ravaged Iran’s civilian nuclear
facilities back in 2010 with the Stuxnet virus. That cyberattack was
personally ordered by President Barack Obama,
according to the New York Times.
Washington’s imperious
attitude displayed last week also stands in contrast to Beijing’s
efforts to find a mutual partnership on a range of issues, and on
cybercrime in particular.
The Chinese leader
showed grace and stoicism during his visit to Washington, in spite
of the boorish hostility expressed in the American media before and
during his stay.
In a
six-point plan put forward by Xi on various aspects of strategic
partnership, the Chinese president generously offered mutual
cooperation and understanding with the United States.
For his part,
President Obama reciprocated on initiatives for closer government
communication and co-operation over climate change, cultural
exchange, reform of the International Monetary Fund, trade and
commerce.
However, a sour note –
and a big one too – was Obama’s continued implicit insistence that
China is the guilty party on the singular matter of cybercrime,
allegedly involving corporate theft, intellectual property violation
and government espionage.
The New York Times
headlined: ‘Obama and Xi Jinping Agree to Steps on Cybertheft’.
Though the newspaper added: «But Mr. Obama said that he had told the
Chinese president during two hours of meetings at the White House
that the escalating cycle of cyberattacks against American
targets‘has to stop,’ warning Mr. Xi that the United States would go
after and punish perpetrators of those offenses through traditional
law enforcement tools and, potentially, with sanctions».
In other words,
Washington is framing the issue as a one-sided problem, ostensibly
of Chinese transgression against the US.
Over the past six
months, the US media have been ramping up a campaign of vilification
against China with numerous, and often sensationalist, allegations
of cybercrime. Citing anonymous US officials, the American media
have run endless articles claiming that Chinese hackers have invaded
US commercial corporations and government agencies, harming American
economic performance.
One of the biggest
alleged violations was widely reported to have occurred at the
Office of Personnel Management in which data on up to 22 million US
federal employees had been hacked. Major US media outlets claimed
that China was to blame, even though no verifiable evidence has ever
been produced to substantiate that.
The Washington Post
reported in June: «With a series of major hacks, China builds a
database on Americans». Based solely on anonymous official briefings
and on opinions of private internet security firms, the Post’s
article accused China of using private information about federal
employees and their families as a means of recruiting spies. With
this kind of xenophobic and alarmist reportage in one of America’s
supposedly quality media outlets, it is little wonder that an
«anti-China» outlook has been fostered among the US public.
China’s government has
flatly rejected those allegations as being «unscientific and
unreasonable». Beijing also rebuked Washington for conducting
foreign policy on the basis of unfounded suspicion.
Obama, speaking in the
White House Rose Garden with President Xi at this side, announced
that the two countries had now agreed to «rules of the road» to
crackdown on cybercrime.
But still there was an
insidious presumption in Obama’s words when he said: «The question
now is, ‘Are words followed by actions?’» The implication from the
American president is that China’s commitment to combatting
cybercrime is suspect, and that future alleged Chinese
transgressions are to be anticipated.
Obama then added with
a sinister tone: «And we will be watching carefully to make an
assessment as to whether progress has been made in this area.»
That gets to the heart
of the problem. Obama’s words betray an attitude in which China is
not being treated as an equal partner in dealing with a mutual
problem. Rather, China is being treated as a miscreant whom the
Americans are unilaterally putting on notice over future alleged
misdemeanours.
«Neither country’s
government will conduct or knowingly support cyber-enabled theft of
intellectual property, including trade secrets or other confidential
business information, with the intent of providing competitive
advantages to companies or commercial sectors»,
reported the New York Times.
That clip from the
Times is, at least, tantamount to acknowledging that cybercrime is
liable to be committed by criminal elements on both sides.
Nevertheless, it is
Washington who is presuming to be the innocent victim, and the
«all-knowing» party who alone will determine if China is guilty of
any future cyber-transgressions.
Given the American
media’s already reprehensible conduct of a lynch-mob campaign
against China over cybercrime, we can be sure that more
sensationalist allegations of «Chinese hacking» will be rolled out
in the future and thereby presented as incriminating «facts».
Then we can expect
Obama or his White House successor to intone that China’s actions
have not matched its words, and therefore American sanctions are
«justified» to penalise Chinese authorities or businesses.
The unproven, and
frankly unprovable, American claims against China on the matter of
cybercrime therefore appear to be used as a torque on US-China
relations. For all we know, the supposed Chinese hack-attacks could
actually originate from American agencies for the very purpose of
demonising China.
It is a convenient way
for Washington to twist, discredit and demonise Beijing. In order to
always keep China on the back foot, as having to defend itself from
allegations of wrongdoing and untrustworthiness.
Obama’s barely veiled
supercilious attitude towards China shows that his words about
America «welcoming» Chinese «friendly competition» are disingenuous.
On the contrary, Washington sees China rise in global power as a
threat to its hegemonic ambitions of control.
The American supposed
concern about cybercrime is not on the basis of a mutual or genuine
resolution. Instead, it is a contrived issue aimed at exerting
control over China and an attempt by Washington to impose a
dominant-subordinate relationship.
Washington’s
presumption of «judge and jury» on the issue is the telltale
evidence of a persistent hegemonic mentality towards China. That
mentality will in turn prove to be the source of other conflicts on
other issues, whether over territorial disputes or alleged currency
manipulation.
© Strategic Culture Foundation