A day after The Washington Post came out with an explosive report suggesting that Chinese hackers have gained access to designs of a host of advanced American weapons systems, the Pentagon has sought to downplay the findings, insisting that the compromised information was of “lower sensitivity”.
“Suggestions that cyber intrusions have somehow led to the erosion of our capabilities or technological edge are incorrect,” Pentagon spokesman George little said in a statement, asserting: “We maintain full confidence in our weapons platforms.”
Although the Pentagon itself had raised its concerns about Chinese cyber espionage in a report to Congress earlier this month, the spokesman described the Post as outdated. Based on a confidential publication from the Defence Science Board, the paper had reported that Chinese hackers have gained access to designs of more than two dozen major US weapons systems.
little, however, said the Pentagon takes the threat of cyber espionage and cyber security very seriously, which is why it has taken a number of steps to increase funding to strengthen its capabilities, harden the networks, and work with the defence industrial base to achieve greater visibility on the threats that its industrial partners are facing.
The White House made it clear that cyber-hacking remains an issue of key concern with China, with spokesman Jay Carney letting it be known that President Barack Obama will take up the issue during his upcoming meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in California in early June.
As many as 87 per cent of retired American military officers and 70 per cent of business leaders identified the Chinese cyber-attacks as the most serious issue in Chinese-American relations.
Meanwhile, in preparation for Obama’s meeting with Xi, US National Security Advisor Tom Donilon has visited Beijing and held discussions with senior Chinese officials on several key issues, including North Korea, cyber security and rebalance of the US in the Asia-Pacific region.
“In his discussions with senior Chinese officials, Mr Donilon emphasised the need for further cooperation in addressing such issues as North Korea, cyber-security, climate change, stability in Asia as well as expanding bilateral military ties,” National Security Council spokesperson Caitlin Hayden said.