China and US find common ground over cybersecurity disputes
Talks between public security chief and US counterpart yield ‘positive outcome’, Beijing says
China and the US have agreed to a framework on managing their cybersecurity disputes at the highest-level talks on the issue since the leaders of the two nations sat down in September, Beijing said on Wednesday.
The discussions in Washington had yielded “positive outcomes”, the Ministry of Public Security said, including an understanding that quick communication after perceived attacks was critical.
Ministry chief Guo Shengkun met Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and US Attorney General Loretta Lynch on Tuesday, according to a brief official statement from the Chinese side.
“[China and the US] should manage the disputes in a constructive fashion,” Guo was quoted by Xinhua as saying. “We should offer timely and effective response to each other’s concerns, taking the dialogue mechanism as our major channel for communication regarding the cybersecurity issues.”
The US has not released details about the talks, which were expected to continue on Wednesday if not longer.
Representatives identified “a number of cases” for future cybersecurity cooperation, Xinhua reported.
Among them are the theft of data from the US Office of Personnel Management, which officials have privately linked to Chinese hackers.
At least 5.6 million people’s fingerprints were stolen as part of the attack, Reuters reported earlier.
Xinhua said the incident “turned out to be a criminal case rather than a state-sponsored cyberattack”.
American officials told the Financial Times the discussions were “candid”.
It marked the first bilateral cybersecurity dialogue at a top level since President Xi Jinping’s high-profile visit to the United States three months ago.
Xi and his US counterpart Barack Obama agreed during their summit to establish a dialogue mechanism to review the timeliness and quality of responses to requests for information about cybercrimes.
The two countries had regular cybersecurity talks at a lower level for until Beijing suspended them last year after the US charged five PLA officers with hacking American companies.
The officials also agreed on Tuesday to carry through on an agreement made in September to set up a dedicated hotline and further strengthen cooperation in fighting against terrorist activities online.
The next round of top-level talks are scheduled for June in Beijing.
