White House spokesman Josh Earnest refused to comment on the likelihood of a cyber agreement with China on Thursday, hours before President Obama was scheduled to have dinner with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“There’s no agreement that I’m prepared to talk about at this point,” Earnest told reporters. “But we have made clear to the Chinese both publicly and privately that issues related to cybersecurity and our concerns with China’s conduct in cyberspace will feature prominently on the agenda … that’ll start tonight at the dinner,” he added.
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As the U.S. continues to deal with Chinese hackers penetrating commercial and government systems, there has been speculation that Obama may seek an agreement with China regarding behavior in cyberspace.
Also on Thursday, Adm. Mike Rogers, head of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, expressed skepticism about the prospect of a treaty during an appearance before the Senate Intelligence Committee. “I certainly think we can get to the idea of norms … A formal treaty? I don’t know,” Rogers told the committee.
Earnest refused to speak to the scope of any potential agreement, but reiterated the emphasis that the U.S. puts on its objections to state-backed hacking for commercial gain.
“The concerns that we have raised most loudly are those concerns centered around government-enabled cyber theft for financial gain.” Earnest said. “This is something China has been engaged in for quite some time and it has drawn significant rebukes from the administration.”
However, he added, “I would say that we’re concerned by all of China’s behavior in cyberspace. I wouldn’t want anybody to misunderstand that.”
China has long denied hacking American companies. During a visit with tech leaders in Seattle, Xi repeated his position on the matter, saying “The Chinese government will not in whatever form engage in commercial thefts or encourage or support such attempts by anyone.”
This month, anonymous White House officials threatened sanctions against Chinese companies that engaged in commercial hacking. The threat resulted in an elevated level of attention to the problem from China, which sent a delegation to discuss cybersecurity with FBI Director James Comey and National Security Adviser Susan Rice in advance of Xi’s visit.
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Earnest said sanctions were still on the table. “The possibility of using sanctions against any country or any actor that engages in this kind of behavior or benefits from it is a tool that continues to be at the president’s disposal.”
Cybersecurity figures prominently on the list of topics that Obama is expected to broach with Xi, in addition to human rights, climate standards and economic reforms that include China’s devaluation of its currency. Xi’s trip will end in New York City, where he will preside over a United Nations conference on gender equality on Sunday.
