By Gordon Corera
Security correspondent, BBC News
24 September 2015
Cybersecurity – an issue once obscure – is now at the centre of US-China relations.
In Cold War days, nuclear arms control might have topped the agenda of a major summit – but now when leaders meet, they are looking at how to avoid an escalating cyber-arms race.
Tension has grown in recent years and is the sign of a wider struggle over establishing the rules of the road for the internet as the US and other countries battle to define what constitutes acceptable behaviour and how to deter actions that cross those lines.
American officials have been making their views about Chinese state-sponsored cyber-espionage clear in the run up to this week’s meetings.
“This isn’t a mild irritation, it’s an economic and national security concern to the United States,” US national security adviser Susan Rice said.
“It puts enormous strain on our bilateral relationship, and it is a critical factor in determining the future trajectory of US-China ties.”
President Xi Jinping, meanwhile, denied such activity was taking place and the Chinese media have stressed how “regrettable” it is that the US has taken on antagonistic position, arguing that Washington’s criticism reflects an arrogance and “hegemonic mentality”, especially when the US spies on the world.
Both sides argue that developing consensus between the country that founded the internet and the one that now contains the most users is vital – but what that consensus looks like is highly contested.
Arms control
Reports suggest the US and China are negotiating some form of “arms control” for cyberspace – for instance agreeing not to be first to target the other’s critical infrastructure in peacetime.
But that is a relatively easy step – more important is the attempt to establish norms of behaviour.
China is keener on norms that facilitate certain forms of state control over the internet, to deal with its concerns about US dominance and the subversive nature of unregulated flows of information.
The US would like to say it is not just certain kinds of destructive attacks that are unacceptable but also economic espionage, as it defines it.
The message from Washington is that governments spying on governments in cyberspace is fine but they should not spy on companies for commercial gain.
However, that is a definition that China and others may see as suiting America’s interests and not theirs.
America’s annoyance is based on the activities of certain units of China’s People’s Liberation Army alleged to be stealing intellectual property and business-sensitive information from US companies.
Snowden factor
Just over two years ago, President Obama was preparing to confront the Chinese leader at a previous summit in California over this issue: cyber-spying was top of the agenda.
“We were spring-loaded,” says one former US intelligence official.
But then something went wrong.
