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Essay On Cyber Espionage In China

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The 2015 agreement between the United States and China concerning economic espionage has been viewed with both optimism and skepticism. It’s the first agreement of any substance on the issue, which is a hopeful sign. China doesn’t enjoy a reputation of carefully adhering to international agreements and there is doubt about whether the agreement will have any practical effect on China’s behavior.
Since the early 2000s, cyber espionage issues have increasingly strained U.S.-China relations. All countries engage in espionage, but China is one of the largest and most persistent perpetrators (as is, to be fair, the United States). In 2010, suspected Chinese cyber activities started to become a regular topic of discussion inside the U.S. …show more content…

China blames a “Cold War mentality” for the United States characterizing China as the miscreant. As Xi Jinping put it in September 2015, “The Cold War has long ended. [China and the U.S.] should make joint efforts to build a new model of major-country relations between two countries, and realize non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect, and cooperation.”
The differing approaches to cyberspace use and government also reflect, to some extent, the larger world views of the U.S. and China. The United States values freedom of expression and self-determination. It seeks to increase these freedoms in its international interactions and believes the free flow of information over the internet is the key to strategic and diplomatic success.
The U.S. also has a strong commitment to privacy (although not as strong as the European Union, which recently invalidated the U.S.- EU data transfer agreement because it provided insufficient protections for EU citizens). The activities of government agencies like the National Security Agency (NSA) in cyberspace has generated lively debate in the U.S. regarding how best to balance privacy and national security. Most recently, Congress eliminated the NSA’s bulk phone-records collection program, replacing it with a constrained measure designed to keep the records in phone companies’ hands. The internal, on-going privacy debate influences U.S. policies across the board, but especially with regard to cyber activities.
China, meanwhile,

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