China, U.S. to advance cybersecurity cooperation

Chinese and U.S. officials meeting in Washington on Wednesday for a bilateral cybersecurity dialogue have agreed to expand cooperation, according to Chinese officials.

Chinese State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Guo Shengkun joined U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson in co-chairing the third China-U.S. High-Level Joint Dialogue on Cybercrime and Related Issues.

The two sides reached a new consensus in deepening cooperation in cybersecurity. Achievements made in the meeting cover areas such as cracking down on cybercrimes, cooperation in cybersecurity, improving the hotline mechanism, cyber counterterrorism cooperation and information sharing, according to a press release from the Chinese delegation.

The two sides recalled the achievements made since the first dialogue and spoke positively of the importance and necessity of the mechanism, the press release said.

Guo was quoted as saying in the meeting that China and the U.S. established the high-level dialogue mechanism based on the important consensus reached between President Xi and U.S. President Barack Obama in September 2015.

He said the two leaders gave important input to the dialogue when they met in Lima, Peru, last month on the sidelines of the APEC Leaders Summit.

"With the high attention and promotion by the two heads of state, the cooperation in cybersecurity between China and the U.S. has advanced rapidly to become a new highlight in bilateral relations," Guo said at the meeting.

The two-day meeting from Dec 7-8 is attended by top officials from multiple government departments in both countries, including China's Ministry of Public Security, Cyberspace Administration, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of State Security and Ministry of Justice and the U.S.' Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, Department of State and Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Guo said the two sides have achieved notable progress in areas such as cracking down on cybercrimes, protecting cybersecurity and sharing information. "(It) has made a positive contribution to ensuring the national security and the safety of the people in both countries," he said.

He noted that it has been an important period for the two countries in carrying out their law enforcement cooperation focusing on cybersecurity. He expressed that the dialogue mechanism should be the main channel for the two countries in communicating cyber-related issues.

Guo also emphasized the importance of focusing on cooperation, managing and controlling differences, and timely and effective responses to each other's concerns as well as the need of achieving no-conflict, no-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation.

"The Chinese side is willing to make continued efforts with the current U.S. government team and the next government team to take the bilateral cooperation in cybersecurity to a new high and to make a contribution to the building of a new type of major country relationship," Guo said.

An official from the Chinese delegation, who prefers not to be identified, said U.S. officials also agree that without such a dialogue mechanism, China and the U.S. could still face confrontation and conflict in cybersecurity, as the situation appeared more than a year ago.

In the past year, China has requested the U.S. for assistance in investigating 10 cybercrime cases while the U.S. has made request for nine cases.

The official also praised the hotline mechanism for helping reduce miscalculation when serious cases emerge.

Both Lynch and Johnson expressed that two countries have shared interest in cracking down on cybercrimes and protecting cybersecurity, according to the Chinese press release.

They described the high-level dialogue mechanism as "a new highlight of China-U.S. cooperation" and "playing an important role in protecting cybersecurity and cracking down cybercrimes" as well as "providing an important platform for the law enforcement departments in both countries to conduct candid exchanges and enhance mutual understanding and trust".

Both Lynch and Johnson hoped that the mechanism could be further developed and more practical cooperation will be carried out in cracking down on criminal activities such as cyber terrorism and email scams. They also hoped to manage the differences constructively to ensure more concrete achievements in U.S.-China cooperation in cybersecurity.

Both sides proposed to hold the fourth round of dialogue in China in 2017.