In separate events, the Chinese and American governments called for standards regarding cyberattacks.
The New York Times reports that in a speech, today, President Obama's national security adviser, Thomas E. Donilon, called on China to takes steps to stop the attacks.
The Times reports this is the "first direct response" from the United States after a rash of reports implicating China in the hacking of dozens of American companies. The Times adds:
"Mr. Donilon said the threats to cybersecurity had moved to the forefront of its concerns with China, noting that he was not 'talking about ordinary cybercrime or hacking.'
"But although Mr. Donilon emphasized the importance of developing a code of conduct on cybersecurity, he made no mention of Washington's attacks on the computer networks in Iran, which have impeded Tehran's development of nuclear centrifuge machines."
According to China Daily, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi was the highest-ranking official to address the hacking claims. During a session of the National People's Congress on Saturday, Yang called for "rules and cooperation" instead of a cyberwar.
Yang also defend his country against claims made by the U.S.
China Daily adds:
"'Those reports may have caught the eye of many people, but they are built on shaky ground,' said Yang, voicing his opposition to "turn cyberspace into another battlefield, or capitalize on virtual reality to interfere in another country's internal affairs."
"China's Ministry of National Defense had scorned the accusations as 'unprofessional and false' shortly after the report was released. It also said China has never directly accused the US government of being behind the attacks even though its military computers suffered "a large number" of overseas attacks, with 'a considerable number' of them originating from the US judging from the IP addresses."
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