Tag

Speaking at a joint news conference at the White House, US President Barack Obama said that he and his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jingping, had agreed that neither country would engage in cyber economic espionage in the future.

And President Xi, during these discussions, indicated to me that, with 1.3 billion people, he can’t guarantee the behavior of every single person on Chinese soil – which I completely understand. As it turns out, President Xi did make a statement about this, speaking...

“Relevant construction activities that China are undertaking in the islands of the South China Sea do not impact any country, and China does not intend to pursue militarisation”, he said.

Obama said he described to Xi the “tools” the administration has to deter and punish cybercrime and cyberattacks.

For his part, Xi said that the two great economic powers had agreed to cooperate in the face of global challenges.

“The United States government does not engage in cyber economic espionage for commercial gain”.

Xi later visited Microsoft’s campus in Seattle where he was greeted by cofounder Bill Gates, CEO Satya Nadella and other top executives.

Xi said he was aware of risks and challenges facing China’s economy, and was adopting more forceful and innovative macro-economic measures to address them.

Xi reiterated that China and its rising defense capabilities – including anti-ship ballistic missiles – do not pose a regional or global threat.

In addition, it has promoted the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), a regional trade agreement which openly excludes China. Tom Cotton said on Capitol Hill ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Washington this week.