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U.S. and China Set to Meet, With Few Expectations U.S. and China Set to Meet, With Few Expectations
(about 18 hours later)
WASHINGTON — Expectations are low as top officials of the United States and China prepare for an annual meeting here on Tuesday. Yet the fact that the two nations are talking at all is seen as positive at a time when they seem as far apart as ever, not least after the recent discovery that hackers linked to China have stolen the personal data of millions of federal workers. WASHINGTON — Top Obama administration officials admonished China in a bilateral meeting on Tuesday for sponsoring online attacks against businesses, but they remained silent — at least publicly — on the suspected role of Chinese hackers in the recently discovered theft from government computers of personal data on millions of federal employees and contractors.
The cyberattacks are certain to charge the atmosphere at the seventh such gathering, known as the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue. But that issue will share a lengthy agenda with discordant matters of trade and open markets, the value of China’s currency, the treatment of American companies in China, Beijing’s military buildup in the South China Sea and more. Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., after praising China for some economic and diplomatic actions, suggested that the country was not a “responsible competitor” in cyberspace. “Nations that use cybertechnology as an economic weapon, or profits from the theft of intellectual property,” he said, “are sacrificing tomorrow’s gains for short-term gains today.”
The high-level gathering is occurring as the Republican-led Congress, in a rare alliance with the Obama administration, is trying to revive legislation recently derailed by Democrats that would ease President Obama’s negotiation of a trade accord with 11 other Pacific Rim nations, excluding China. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew raised the topic more than once at the meeting, known as the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, saying at one point, “We remain deeply concerned about government-sponsored cybertheft from companies and commercial sectors.”
While administration officials have said little in briefings with reporters that would raise expectations for breakthroughs between the world’s two biggest economic powers, the talks are nonetheless seen as potentially setting the table for agreements to be announced when Mr. Obama receives President Xi Jinping for a state visit in September. The meeting between the United States and China in Beijing last summer was the background for an announcement by the two presidents in November of a climate change accord. Secretary of State John Kerry said little publicly on the subject, but he told the visitors that the two sides would have “a very frank discussion of cybersecurity and other ongoing concerns” once they went behind closed doors.
Also, the White House sees China’s cooperation as important to the success of international negotiations with Iran to limit that country’s nuclear production, with a deadline for those talks set for the end of this month. China is considered critical to managing nuclear-armed North Korea, as well. The officials’ remarks, opening two days of meetings, confirmed that the hacking issue would cloud the discussions, which were expected to cover a range of matters, many of them also divisive. Those include policies on trade, banking and investment, China’s currency and its disputed claims in the South China Sea — the last another issue on which Mr. Biden and Mr. Kerry publicly scolded China.
“The U.S. and China have a very complex, very consequential relationship,” said Daniel R. Russel, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs. “We don’t always see eye to eye. But the fact is that global challenges require that we cooperate.” While expectations are low for achievements at the seventh annual gathering, both sides hope for progress toward agreements to be announced in September, when President Xi Jinping comes to Washington for a state visit.
On the eve of the two-day discussions, Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew hosted a dinner on Monday for their Chinese counterparts and other diplomats from both countries at Mount Vernon, the estate of George Washington. The joint roles of Mr. Kerry and Mr. Lew reflect the dual nature of the talks, which are to cover economic and national security issues. The Chinese officials were publicly mum on the Americans’ hacking complaints, except for a nonresponsive comment from State Councilor Yang Jiechi. “We believe that cybersecurity is very important,” he said. “We think that countries should work together to develop an international code of conduct for cyberinformation sharing.”
But the evening’s hospitality was expected to give way by Tuesday morning to candid, tense exchanges, as the Americans confront the Chinese about cybersecurity. The United States has not accused the Chinese government of cyberattacks that siphoned off personal, financial and medical records of at least four million federal employees and perhaps millions more people, but government and private-sector officials have traced the invasions to one or more groups in China. American officials, including President Obama, have linked China’s government to the hacking of insurance companies, military contractors and other corporate interests in the United States. But, as on Tuesday, they have stopped short of publicly accusing the Chinese government of complicity in the attacks that stole personal, financial and medical records of at least four million federal workers, and perhaps millions more people, although intelligence and private sector officials have traced the invasions to one or more groups in China.
Separately, little progress is expected on a bilateral investment treaty, and the American side is split on how much effort to make on an issue unlikely to be concluded before Mr. Obama leaves office. Mr. Kerry lauded the nations’ joint efforts in several areas: Afghanistan, North Korea, counterterrorism and the negotiations to limit Iran’s nuclear program. With a deadline looming, those talks “are reaching a pivotal moment,” he said. All those subjects are on the meeting’s agenda.
A special session is scheduled on the dispute over China’s claims in the South China Sea and its construction of outposts there. Mr. Russel called the buildup there “troubling not just to us, but to the countries in the region.” But Mr. Kerry chided China for plans to expand construction of outposts in waters that are the subject of disputes with neighboring nations, citing “the need to reduce tensions — rather than add to them — in the South China Sea and the East China seas.” Mr. Biden implicitly rebuked China as well, saying that “responsible countries” respect international sea lanes, and criticizing “nations that disregard diplomacy and use coercion and intimidation to settle disputes.”
While human rights groups complain that the administration gives their concerns short shrift in forums with China, Mr. Biden did question Beijing’s treatment of women, minorities, journalists and religious leaders, as well as nongovernmental, civil society and education groups. Responsible nations “respect human rights not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it’s absolutely economically necessary,” he said.
The conclave opened on a positive note, however, as Mr. Kerry, Mr. Lew and their counterparts celebrated the climate change accord that their nations’ presidents announced in November, committing both to lower greenhouse gas emissions.