MCLC: Chinese media on NSA disclosure

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject: Chinese media on NSA disclosure
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Source: NYT (6/13/13):
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/14/world/asia/chinese-media-suggest-nsa-disc
losure-will-hurt-us-ties.html

Chinese Media Suggest N.S.A. Disclosure Will Hurt U.S. Ties
By GERRY MULLANY and DIDI KIRSTEN TATLOW

HONG KONG — After several days of relative silence on the issue, Chinese
state media Thursday highlighted revelations that the United States
government was engaged in widespread monitoring of Internet and telephone
communications, carrying reports suggesting the disclosures could damage
relations between the two countries.

The reports in the state media are the closest thing to an official
Chinese response to the revelations, which have come at an uncomfortable
time for American officials, just after President Obama pressed for
Beijing’s cooperation in curtailing Chinese cyberespionage. Chinese
government officials have refrained from directly criticizing the United
States on the disclosures, but the state media typically serve as a proxy
for their views.

“The massive U.S. global surveillance program revealed by a former C.I.A.
whistle-blower in Hong Kong is certain to stain Washington’s overseas
image and test developing Sino-U.S. ties,” said an article in the
state-run China Daily, citing analysts. The newspaper quoted Li Haidong, a
researcher of American studies at China Foreign Affairs University,
warning of the impact the disclosure could have on relations between the
United States and China.

“For months, Washington has been accusing China of cyberespionage, but it
turns out that the biggest threat to the pursuit of individual freedom and
privacy in the U.S. is the unbridled power of the government,” Mr. Li was
quoted as saying.

The man who leaked details of the program, Edward J. Snowden, is now
believed to be in Hong Kong, which is administered by China but has a
large degree of legal autonomy. As American officials pursue possible
charges against him in preparation for an extradition effort, the
authorities in Hong Kong, rather than the mainland government, are likely
to decide whether to turn Mr. Snowden over to the United States, which has
a long history of cooperation with Hong Kong on such matters.

Mr. Snowden, a former computer technician with the National Security
Agency, said in an interview Wednesday with The South China Morning Post
that the United States had gained access to hundreds of computers in Hong
Kong and China since 2009.

On Thursday, Mr. Snowden’s image was splashed across the top of the Post,
an English-language paper based in Hong Kong, and his actions were the
subject of more intense discussion in media outlets on mainland China and
on social media sites.

One mainland news outlet, The Global Times, a newspaper that is part of
the Communist Party-run People’s Daily group, called for assertive Chinese
action to confront Washington in the wake of Mr. Snowden’s revelations.

“Before the U.S. government rushes to shut Snowden’s mouth, China also
needs to seek an explanation from Washington,” the newspaper said. “We are
not bystanders. The issue of whether the U.S. as an Internet superpower
has abused its powers touches on our vital interests directly.”

For Chinese media, coverage of the issue can be a delicate balancing act,
since the allegations that the United States is employing a double
standard naturally focuses attention on its assertions that Chinese
entities are engaged in widespread cyberspying, an issue that Chinese
state media outlets have shied away from. There is also the tricky issue
of Mr. Snowden’s presence on Hong Kong soil, a potentially problematic
development as China and the United States have recently worked to improve
relations.

Officials in the United States have rebuffed suggestions that the
surveillance by the N.S.A. was in any way comparable to Chinese
cyberspying. One intelligence employee, speaking on condition of anonymity
because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the two situations — China’s
stealing of trade and military secrets and N.S.A. surveillance to track
possible terrorist attacks — were not comparable, calling them “apples and
oranges.”

“I can tell you with absolute certainty the U.S. government does not pass
on technological secrets obtained through (strictly speaking, as a
byproduct of) espionage to U.S. firms, both as a matter of principle and
because there is no fair way to do it,” he wrote in answer to an e-mailed
question.

“I recall some senior bureaucrat proposing this some two decades ago — and
he got nowhere,” he wrote. “None of the agencies wanted anything to do
with it.”

“China, by contrast, deliberately targets foreign technology for military
and commercial purposes, so this is apples and oranges,” he wrote. “But in
the propaganda war, that fact won’t matter.”

While meeting with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, in California last
week, Mr. Obama pressed the issue of Chinese cyberspying, but Mr. Xi did
not acknowledge any culpability.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/09/world/asia/obama-and-xi-try-building-a-n
ew-model-for-china-us-ties.html?pagewanted=all>
At a daily news briefing Thursday, Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for China’s
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was pressed repeatedly to address Mr.
Snowden’s disclosures, but said she had “no relevant information to
supply.”

“Just like what I’ve repeated here multiple times, China is also a victim
to the most sophisticated cyberhacking,” she said. “We’re willing to
engage with the international community in constructive dialogue and
cooperation so as to jointly safeguard the peace, security, openness and
cooperation of the cyberspace.”
Gerry Mullany reported from Hong Kong, and Didi Kirsten Tatlow from
Beijing. Patrick Zuo contributed reporting from Beijing.