US launches "diversionary move" before Chinese President's visit

(Baonghean.vn)- On September 1, the US media published information from a US government official revealing that the White House is preparing a list of sanctions against Chinese businesses in response to cyber attacks on US companies. This can be considered a "diversionary move" by the US side before the upcoming visit to the US by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Conflicts are difficult to resolve.

Cyber ​​attacks have long been a contentious issue between the US and China. The annual US-China strategic and economic dialogues have always witnessed fierce conflicts between the two sides regarding cyber attacks. US officials say that recent cyber attacks, which they say originated from China, have become more serious.

Last year, the US indicted five Chinese military officers for hacking into US networks to steal state secrets and commercial intellectual property, leading China to suspend a bilateral working group on cybersecurity.

In early June, just before the 7th US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, US officials said a group of hackers had penetrated the US government's computer system, stealing personal data of more than 4 million federal employees, including military and intelligence personnel. Washington accused Beijing of orchestrating this "shocking" attack.

Most recently, a July 10 report by the US government's Office of Personnel Management said that 21.5 million Americans were victims of hackers believed to be from China. This cyber attack is considered the largest ever in US history because the number of victims attacked by hackers is equivalent to 7% of the US population. Afterwards, the Obama administration criticized the attack, which is believed to have been directed by the Chinese government.

China, for its part, claims to be the victim of cyber attacks, not the perpetrator. Chinese officials have strongly rejected evidence presented by the US that China is behind many sophisticated attacks targeting the US.

America launched a diversionary tactic

According to CNN, the cyber-related sanctions, if applied by the US, would target Chinese organizations that steal trade secrets from US companies as well as cyberattacks against the US government. However, the US has not yet made a final decision on the timing of imposing the sanctions.

It seems that the US is showing its “seriousness” in fighting cyber attacks that it believes originate from China. However, if the US immediately implements sanctions targeting Chinese organizations, it will risk escalating US-China tensions even further. Because currently, China’s construction of artificial islands in the East Sea has already caused “turbulence” in relations between Washington and Beijing. If the conflict related to cyber attacks continues to escalate, it will certainly cast a shadow over Chinese President Xi Jinping’s upcoming visit to the US.

In addition, the administration of US President Barack Obama is also facing a lot of pressure from US politicians demanding strong "punishment" against China. Some US politicians, especially Republicans, even called on the White House to cancel the upcoming visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping or for Washington to take a tougher stance towards China. Republican presidential candidates have repeatedly criticized the Obama administration's soft policy towards China. Therefore, the White House's "signaling" of sanctions against China may also reduce criticism from Republican politicians, while reassuring a large number of US voters.

The fact that the time for imposing sanctions has not been set yet, nor has there been any official comment from the White House, shows that the US is actively launching a "diversionary move" against China before Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the US. Firstly, analysts believe that this move by the US is a show of US strength on the issue of hackers, that the US has run out of patience because of recent large-scale cyber attacks, which have seriously affected US national security and that the US will "take strong action" against China. Secondly, it is no coincidence that news about the preparation of sanctions was released just a few weeks before Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the US. The "signaling" threat of sanctions could give the US an advantage when entering high-level talks with China. This is a clever move by the White House, both making China wary and not pushing the relationship between the two countries into a new state of tension before Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the US. Norma Krayem, a former finance and diplomatic official under US President Bill Clinton, predicted that sanctions would be imposed after Xi Jinping’s visit. Therefore, “intentionally” leaking information about the White House’s preparations for sanctions would help the US “show off its prestige” and create leverage when entering negotiations with China.

Nguyen Cao Bien.