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PLA Daily: The U.S. Cyber Strategy: Cooperation Is a Pretense; Confrontation Is What’s True

China’s military newspaper PLA Daily published an article claiming that the U.S. proposal to cooperate with China on the issue of cyber security is no more than a pretense. Confrontation is the real truth. The article referred to two news reports on April 9, 2013, regarding the U.S. cyber strategy. The first one said that, at the sixth China-U.S. Forum on the Internet, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Hormats stated, “Both sides need cooperation rather than confrontation." The second one said that John Hayden, deputy commander of the U.S. Air Force Space Command, announced at the U.S. National Space Symposium, "The U.S. Air Force has officially designated six kinds of Internet tools as weapons." The article said, “Taking the two news items together, one cannot help but wonder how sincere the United States’ proposal for cooperation really is.” 

The article concluded, “Whether the United States is talking about cyberspace cooperation or promoting the development of Internet tools, it cannot cover the fact that its purpose is to maintain hegemony in the name of cooperation and the intention to threaten other countries by displaying new cyber weapons. One thing is for sure; the U.S. military bringing cyberspace into the arms race will make the fighting on cyberspace strategy increasingly fierce.” 
The article was republished on almost all of China’s state-run media’s major websites. 
Source: PLA Daily, April 15, 2013 
http://chn.chinamil.com.cn/jwjj/2013-04/15/content_5299495.htm 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2013-04/15/c_124579968.htm http://military.people.com.cn/BIG5/n/2013/0415/c1011-21135822.html

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

China Review News: Figure out the Significance of Kerry’s Visit to China

On April 16, 2013, China Review News published an article on U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to China, titled “Figure out the Significance of Kerry’s Visit to China.” “Kerry usually supports the positive development of cooperative relations between the U.S. and China.” "Sino-US bilateral relations have achieved a good start."

“Over the next 10-15 years, Sino-US relations are bound to face unprecedented challenges. Currently, the two powerful countries are building a new type of relationship. The window won’t stay open. The leaders we need are those who have wisdom, courage, and responsibility to seize the opportunity and shape the future.”

Source: China Review News, April 16, 2013
http://www.zhgpl.com/doc/1025/0/3/5/102503528.html?coluid=148&kindid=7550&docid=102503528&mdate=0416002227

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A Chinese Military Scholar Commented on U.S. Military Exercises in the Asia Pacific

People’s Daily recently reported on Zhen Zehao, Associate Professor at the National Defense University, who stated in a commentary that the purpose of the U.S. military exercises in the Asia Pacific region is to contain China and reestablish its superpower image.  

Zhen said, “At the end of 2011, U.S. President Barack Obama proposed in high-profile "to return to the Asia-Pacific." Since then, the Pacific has no longer been ‘pacific.’ The United States has frequently organized joint military exercises in the Asia-Pacific region.” 
Zhen asked, “Why is the United States so fond of the Asia-Pacific region? Why does it so frequently use such an action as military exercises?" 
Zhen explained, “From a geostrategic perspective, the Asia-Pacific is an irreplaceable part of the ‘anticommunist levee’ that the U.S. has built in the Far East. Containing China in the Asia-Pacific region is an integral part of the U.S.’s China policy." 
“In recent years, by organizing a series of joint military exercises, the United States has sought to broaden its military presence in the Asia-Pacific region; it continues to strengthen its political and military intervention activities in the region; it has had a significant impact on security and stability in the Asia-Pacific region; and it has exacerbated conflicts of interest between all parties in the region. The region was thrown into a complex situation in which competition and cooperation are intertwined, causing a new round in an arms race that is leading the region to be ‘politically cold and economically hot.’” 
In conclusion, Zhen said, “The United States intends to use the joint military exercises to disrupt the order in the Asia-Pacific; it is taking full advantage of these military exercises to multilaterally contain China and thus enhance U.S. influence in the Asia-Pacific region. This is probably the most fundamental intent of the U.S. In addition, the United States has chosen the Asia-Pacific region, not only to use it as a trump card to clamp down on China’s ‘regional hegemony,’ but also to reinforce its far-reaching intention of displaying its power and reestablishing its superpower image.” 
Source: People’s Daily, April 8, 2013 
http://military.people.com.cn/n/2013/0408/c1011-21050399.html
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U.S. Returning to Asia-Pacific Allows China to Have More Reasons to Strengthen Its Military

Xinhua republished a Huanqiu (Global Times) article that a PLA scholar wrote, claiming that adequate military confrontation can be a good thing for China. 

 The article stated that merely mentioning the U.S.’s C-type encirclement of China used to cause people to feel much pressure. Since Chairman Xi’s successful visit to Russia, they have felt relieved. 
 The article said, “Strategic confrontation is nothing to be afraid of. The national strength of the Soviet Union was developed through its confrontation with the United States. If the two countries had not fought with each other in their thinking (ideology) and if it were not for the self-destruction [the Soviet Union’s collapse] in the area of politics, the United States would not be able to do anything economically or militarily [to the Soviet Union]. In China today, as long as the military competition is mutually beneficial and interdependent with the economy, we are not afraid even if the United States enters Asia. The premise is that we must accelerate the development of our military, economic, and technological strength simultaneously. In a certain sense, the United States entering Asia has increased our demand for arms. It has also been favorable to China. It gives us more reasons to strengthen China’s military power and take the path of empowering the nation independently.” 
Source: Xinhua, April 2, 2013 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2013-04/02/c_124534132.htm

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

People’s Daily: The United States Is Building a “Hacker Empire”

People’s Daily continues to fight back against the Mandiant report from the U.S. regarding Chinese hackers attacking U.S. companies and other entities. An article titled “The United States Is Building a ‘Hacker Empire’" accused the U.S. of being the top “hacker” in the world. The article listed the following facts as “evidence”: 

“Even the United States’ own Internet security experts also admit that activities of the U.S. ‘Cyber Army’ are not entirely in the military field. Their work may already have ‘infiltrated’ into industrial, commercial, and financial service industries, and other areas in the national economy and the people’s livelihood. The ‘Cyber Army’ is actually developing into a ‘Hacker Empire.’" 
“Based on estimates made by foreign military experts, the U.S. ‘Cyber Army’ has surpassed 100,000 people in scale which is the equivalent of eight 101 air assault divisions.” 
“The United States was the first country to develop the ‘worm’ virus, ‘logic bombs’ and other ‘cyber weapons’ and was the first to use them in combat.” 
“The U.S. military has developed as many as 2,000 types of cyber weapons; it is the world’s number one big country of ‘cyber weapons.’" 
“U.S. companies and the U.S. media jointly hype the ‘China hacker attacks’ and have the intention to attack and suppress Chinese IT companies.” 
In conclusion, the article also argued, “Cyber security rules cannot be set by Americans alone. All the countries in the world are both participants and rule setters.” 
Source: People’s Daily, March 25, 2013
http://military.people.com.cn/n/2013/0325/c1011-20899428.html
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Editorial: U.S. Uses Rogue Means against China to Pave the Way for Its Cyber Army Development

Huanqiu (Global Times), a division of People’s Daily, published an editorial accusing the U.S. of preparing for a cyber war by smearing China. The article has also been republished on the websites of People’s Daily and Xinhua. Below are excerpts from the article: 

“Keith Alexander, Commander of the U.S. Military Cyber Warfare Command, reported to Congress on Tuesday that he was building 13 cyber offense brigades and 27 squads in order to safeguard the United States and in retaliation against those countries using cyberspace to attack the U.S. This is the first time that the Obama administration has publicly acknowledged the development of Internet offensive weapons and means.” 
“This reminds everyone of the U.S.’s recent accusations that the Chinese military supports hacker attacks against the United States. A U.S. organization fabricated a report. First, the American media hyped it. Then senior U.S. officials up to Obama also got involved, putting on a show that the United States is suffering from Chinese government-backed hacker attacks. All of this is to pave the way for the United States to announce its plan to establish an offensive army using cyber warfare!” 
“This is really a manifestation of the U.S. government’s lack of moral integrity; it smears China’s reputation as part of its opening ceremony in the formation of its offensive cyber warfare forces. The action shows a lack of the most basic respect for China.” 
“China faces a choice; China should not be naive, nor does it need to be shy. We should immediately start to set up a cyber war army and build an online Great Wall to defend China’s national security. We must not be limited by the double standard that the United States is bound to have, being left far behind the advanced countries in cyber warfare techniques.” 
“The United States taught a lesson to the whole Chinese society, including the Chinese government. The United States is a country whose government and people have a high degree of institutional coordination capacity. For the U.S. national interest, non-governmental organizations and associations are highly motivated to cooperate with the government. The United States government is also very professional and skillful in manipulating social resources.” 
“The cyber warfare structure is far from fixed. It will continue to evolve in the future. China should not only make a great effort to build its cyber warfare capabilities; it should also be mindful not to weaken the research and development of advanced weapons of conventional warfare.” 
Source: Huanqiu, March 15, 2013 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2013-03/15/c_124463692.htm http://military.people.com.cn/n/2013/0315/c1011-20799794.
html http://opinion.huanqiu.com/editorial/2013-03/3734812.html
Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Xinhua: China Faces Serious Threat of Cyber Attacks from U.S.

On March 19, 2013, the National Emergency Response Center (CNCERT) released a report claiming that China faces a serious threat of cyber attacks from outside of China. 

The report said that in 2012, there were about 73,000 Trojans or botnet network control servers (NCS) involved in the control of host servers in Chinese territory, a year-on-year increase of 56.9 percent; also, 1802 government websites were defaced (altered), a year-on-year increase of 21.4 percent. 
The CNCERT report also stated that, in 2012, 12,891 network control servers from the United States controlled more than 10.512 million host servers in China. In addition, it stated that 96.2 percent of the fishing sites targeting China were located offshore, up to 83.2 percent of them being from the United States. 

"The attacks on China’s Internet are mainly from the United States," reported Zhou Yonglin, director of the Operations Department of CNCERT. 

Source: Xinhua, March 19, 2013 
 http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2013-03/19/c_115081043.htm

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Huanqiu: The U.S. Is Steadfastly Preparing for a Cyber War

On March 11, Li Jian, Director of the Zhiyuan Strategic and Defense Research Institute, and Li Daguang, a Professor at the  National Defense University, published an opinion article on Huanqiu (Global Times) in response to two events. The first was a remark that the U.S. President’s National Security Adviser, Tom Donilon, made that China should stop hacking U.S. computer systems and stealing commercial secrets. The second was the U.S. network security company Mandiant’s report, "APT1: to expose one of the Chinese cyber espionage units." The article said that this was by no means a simple matter. “The United States has formed a relatively complete strategic structure of "National Security Strategy – the defense strategy – the national military strategy. The U.S. has become habitual in its strategic thinking. Everything is well articulated: planning, assessment, and step-by-step moves. 

“Such a well-designed [act] by the United States serves nothing more than to achieve the following purposes: the first is to test its rival’s bottom line; the second is, through communication channels, to tie ‘the Chinese military’ to the act of ‘stealing business intelligence’ so as to hinder the Chinese military’s normal development in cyberspace; the third is to act as a deterrent, warning other countries or groups that the United States can use the same means to carry out targeted strikes.” 
“The U.S. has made itself the ‘Cyber guard’ of international Internet security. The purpose is to achieve two parallel and overlapping effects through its use of information warfare: the first is to enhance the credibility and legitimacy of all the activities of the United States’ Internet system in cyberspace; the second is to undermine the credibility and legitimacy of the non ally countries’ network group, including China.” 

Source: Huanqiu, March 13, 2013 
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/opinion_world/2013-03/3727113.html

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations