China and US find common ground over cybersecurity disputes
Talks between public security chief and US counterpart yield ‘positive outcome’, Beijing says
China and the US have agreed to a framework on managing their cybersecurity disputes at the highest-level talks on the issue since the leaders of the two nations sat down in September, Beijing said on Wednesday.
The discussions in Washington had yielded “positive outcomes”, the Ministry of Public Security said, including an understanding that quick communication after perceived attacks was critical.
Ministry chief Guo Shengkun met Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and US Attorney General Loretta Lynch on Tuesday, according to a brief official statement from the Chinese side.
“[China and the US] should manage the disputes in a constructive fashion,” Guo was quoted by Xinhua as saying. “We should offer timely and effective response to each other’s concerns, taking the dialogue mechanism as our major channel for communication regarding the cybersecurity issues.”
The US has not released details about the talks, which were expected to continue on Wednesday if not longer.
Representatives identified “a number of cases” for future cybersecurity cooperation, Xinhua reported.
Among them are the theft of data from the US Office of Personnel Management, which officials have privately linked to Chinese hackers.
