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White House spokesman Josh Earnest said he did not have any
updates on the timing of potential sanctions against China
related to cyber attacks ahead of Xi's visit.
U.S. officials held meetings last week with Meng Jianzhu,
China's domestic security chief, to discuss cyber concerns.
"I can tell you that there was a pretty candid exchange of
views," Earnest said of the meetings, one of which took place
with National Security Adviser Susan Rice.
"I think we've been pretty blunt in describing the concerns that
we have with China's behavior in cyberspace. We have been blunt
in our assessment that that has significant consequences for our
economy and for our national security," added Earnest, speaking
aboard Air Force One as Obama was flying to Iowa.
The official's visit, ahead of Xi's trip, showed the Chinese
government understood the United States was serious about its
concerns, Earnest said.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei reiterated at a
regular media briefing on Tuesday that China is opposed to cyber
crime.
"We are also willing to carry out ample communication and
coordination with the United States to set the rules of Internet
behavior and establish a peaceful, secure, open and cooperative
cyber space," Hong said.
The Obama administration is considering targeted sanctions
against Chinese individuals and companies for cyber attacks
against U.S. commercial targets, several U.S. officials have
said.
Chinese hackers have also been implicated in the massive hacking
of the U.S. government's personnel office disclosed this year.
Two breaches of security clearance applications exposed the
personal data of more than 20 million federal employees.
(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Additional reporting by Michael
Martina in BEIJING; Writing by Jeff Mason; Editing by Eric Beech
and Will Dunham)
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