White House on Chinese Cyber theft

The White House said Tuesday that that the Obama administration has repeatedly taken up its concerns about Chinese Cyber theft at the highest levels of the Chinese government, including with Chinese military officials.

The U.S. comment followed a report by a U.S. computer security company that said a secretive Chinese military unit is believed to be behind a series of hacking attacks, which prompted a strong denial by Beijing.


"We are aware of the Mandiant Report that you are referring to and we are aware of its contents, but I am not going to talk about assessments, intelligence assessments, that we make or may be making. But, you are correct in noting the president's keen focus on this issue. It is a major challenge for us in the national security arena. The United States has substantial and growing concerns about the threats to U.S. economic and national security posed by cyber intrusions, including the theft of commercial information.''

''As the President said in the State of the Union, quote, "We know that foreign countries and companies swipe our corporate secrets." The President also said, "We cannot look back years from now and wonder why we did nothing in the face of real threats to our security and our economy." That is why the United States government is taking an active approach to addressing the issue of cyber-theft,'' said Jay Carney

China warns US over anti-Iran sanctions

China has warned that the US sanctions recently imposed against a Chinese individual and certain companies over their alleged trading with Iran will harm Beijing’s relations with Washington, urging the US to “correct its mistaken policy.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement on Monday that the US measure "seriously violates the norms of international relations and harms China's interests."

"China urges the United States to immediately correct its mistaken policy and revoke these irrational sanctions toward the relevant companies and individuals and cease taking actions that harm China's interests and China-US relations," the statement further read.


The United States on Monday imposed sanctions on a Chinese businessman and a number of firms over the allegation that they have sold Iran items banned under the US Arms Control Act and its Export Administration Act.

According to a notice published on the US Federal Register website, the sanctions took effect on February 5.

The United States, Israel and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.

Over the false allegation, Washington and the European Union have imposed several rounds of illegal unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic.


Iran refutes the allegation and argues that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it is entitled to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

The latest US sanctions, announced on February 5, target Iranian oil revenues.