US mulls unprecedented Chinese sanctions in wake of hacks: report
The US is mulling “unprecedented” sanctions against China in response to hacking according to reports.
Anonymous WhiteHouse officials speaking to the Washington Post did not detail the specific economic sanctions which have already been drafted and are under consideration.
Unnamed national security and treasury officials are backing the sanctions in response to network-centric spying.
“Done in tandem with other diplomatic pressure, law enforcement, military, intelligence, then you can actually start to impose costs and indicate that there are costs to the bilateral relationship,” an official told the paper.
The WhiteHouse declined to comment.
News of the possible sanctions comes in the same month that China President Xi Jinping is set to arrive in Washington for his first state visit.
Tensions have been high between the two countries. The US has publicly accused Beijing of funding hacking teams to steal intellectual property from American companies while the FBI has named alleged state-backed hackers on its Most Wanted lists.
Tensions more broadly in islands in the South China sea and around Japan are seen as a sign of emergent Chinese superiority. Analysts say the regional chest-beating is a challenge to US dominance in Asia and an attempt to cause Washington to choose between losing influence or confronting the Beijing.
Rumours of economic sanctions could be seen in this light as a retaliatory feint at the Eastern power. ®
Sponsored:
Go beyond APM with real-time IT operations analytics
Article source: http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2015/09/01/us_mulls_unprecedented_chinese_sanctions_in_wake_of_hacks_report/