CRI听力:Cyber Security Needs Clear Norms

Allegations of cyber related espionage, both industrial and political, have been floating back and forth between China and the US for months. The recent events surrounding the revelations of former United States National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden have brought the issue of cyber-related espionage into sharp focus. As noted by Yan Xue Tong, dean of Tsinghua University's Institute of Modern International Relations, there are currently no norms governing this very important area.

"I don't think at this moment we have any widely accepted norm or definition of how to govern the cyber security. From my understanding, what we really need is a cooperation to develop a common definition for cyber security and establish norms to govern cyber activity.

But Yan Xue Tong also points out that the case of Snowden has altered the context of the debate regarding US-China cyber activities.

"Snowden certainly is a big headache for the US, but Snowden also make the US cool down and no longer use this kind of issue as an excuse to attack China and others. Suddenly, America is not that honorable, and looks it seems no better than others, maybe even worse."

Edward Snowden's NSA revelations concern cyber activities related with political espionage. However, the conversation regarding China-US cyber activities is wider than just that of government-to-government spying. Paul Haenle, the director of the Carnegie–Tsinghua Center talked about the commercial side of the debate.

"I think what the United States is bringing to the table that is different, and what President Obama tried to outline for President Xi at Sunnylands is cyber attacks that steal America commercial trade and intellectual property. And so this is more of a commercial, cyber warfare which the US side has said it does not engage in and will not engage in, and it would like to engage in dialogue with the Chinese to see how they can prevent this from happening."

Though the political aspect of cyber espionage is important, there is an argument to be made that it is more important to implement norms that could prevent the theft of intellectual property and trade secrets. Gregory Gilligan, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China talked about the importance of the commercial relationship between China and the US and the requirement for cyber norms in order to maintain this foundation.

"The US China relationship rests upon the foundation of the US China commercial relationship. I think the economic interdependence that our two countries have and the scope of commercial activity that we engage in with each other is so broad that it simply is the foundation for the broader relationship. And so, finding ways to strengthen or heal, in some cases, that commercial relationship will have greater impact."

In order to create some semblance of order within the cyber realm, academics are calling for the creation of norms. Though these norms may not be defined in their entirety at the fifth Strategic and Economic Dialogue, officials are likely to start tackling an issue which has fast become one of the most important areas of interest between the US and China.

For CRI, I'm Stuart Wiggin.