generalspeaking

Honour Among Thieves

It wasn't all that long ago -- several months back in fact -- that newspapers were full of accounts of Chinese cyberspying on vital American sites, both federally official arms of the American government and industrial sites. The Chinese up to their old tricks, busy with official-secrets and industrial espionage, eager to take possession of both state secrets and confidential files meant only for privileged U.S. authorities, along with corporate blueprints that could give the Chinese an enterprising leg up.

Why waste time in formulating successful entrepreneurial and scientific formulae when same could be had through subterfuge and illegal cyber-entry to restricted sites, allowing the downloading of vitally useful information?

Much indignation ensued. Accusations and counter-accusations. Denials and 'proof' that made hash of those denials, since the intrusions were traced directly to Chinese military infrastructure; if the cyber-hacking wasn't institutional, directed by the Government of China, it was encouraged by that same government to allow cleverly skilled Chinese to infiltrate secret sources that would prove useful to China.

Latterly, U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Xi Jinping met in California on a semi-official get-together to discuss the thorny issue of cyber-espionage, both agreeing that it was unfortunate and unhealthy for the furtherance of peace and understanding, respect and mutual regard for countries to embark on such disreputable issues such as espionage, federal or industrial.

Each country ostensibly interested and invested in consolidating a more co-operative connection with one another. Each represents, after all, a world power. In a world that seems to grow increasingly unstable, incrementally.

Now a self-aggrandizing and hawkishly self-righteous tilter-at-windmills has emerged. Betraying his own country's security intrusions, he has laid wide open the United States' hypocrisy in accusing China of what it is itself guilty of, and more. Robert Mueller, director of the FBI, assures newly-outraged Americans -- furious now at their own government for its spying proclivities against its own population, let alone foreign elements -- that it is all perfectly legal: "The legality has been assured by the Department of Justice", he has informed the House of Representatives' judiciary committee.

For, it seems, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court "has ruled on these two programs, monitors these two programs and has assured the legality of the efforts undertaken in these two programs"... and this, under a president in whom Americans placed their trust that he would lead them to a path quite different from those which his predecessors -- in particular the much-reviled George W. Bush chose to take. So much for illusions. For what's a nation's government to do when it sees itself under fire from its own citizenry, even while claiming it is motivated by the desire and the need to protect that same citizenry from the evils of foreign attackers, augmented by those recruited by vile interests to attack from within?

In the process, young Edward Snowden has achieved semi-heroic status from his hideaway in Hong Kong where he has found much sympathy with his outrage over his government's perfidious stance. America's allies have been disconcerted to have revealed the extent of United States' surveillance of their own state activities; Germany appears to have been a particular target, though no other countries' secrets have been ignored in the voracious quest for data.

Official Beijing no doubt quietly looks on amused at the revelations striking the very country that has gone on for so long accusing it of computer-based attacks. China's own Internet security chief has affirmed that his country has acquired more than significant data confirming U.S.-based hacking. Diplomatically, however, he has refrained from blaming the American government itself, choosing instead to emphasize how unhelpful it would be, and recommending co-operation in battling cyber-attacks.

And then there was Air Force Colonel Dai Xu, writing on his Sina Weibo microblog: "I have always said, the United States' accusations about Chinese hacking attacks have always been a case of a thief crying for another thief to be caught."

Labels: China, Crisis Politics, Cyberwarfare, Internet, United States

posted by Pieface @ Sunday, June 16, 2013