The Snowden factor
- By An Gang
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E-mail Beijing Review, July 31, 2013
On June 23, Snowden flew to Moscow on a Russian commercial flight, at which point the Hong Kong SAR Government released a statement confirming that Snowden had left. Washington's request to temporarily arrest Snowden did not fully comply with the city's legal requirements, and therefore the SAR Government would not prevent him from leaving without first receiving more "adequate information," the statement said.
On June 24, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Snowden's escape to Russia was "disappointing" and would negatively influence the United States' relationships with China and Russia. White House spokesman James Carney said Washington believed it was not a simple decision by Hong Kong, but an intentional choice of the Chinese Government.
Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations with Renmin University of China, said that it was hard to say if Snowden's flight was an arrangement made under U.S. pressure, or a compromise based on secret discussions among Washington, the Chinese Government and the Hong Kong SAR Government.
Stable ties
When asked about the Snowden event during his visit to Africa, Obama made his first statement about the leaks. He said the issue was mainly a concern of law enforcement departments, adding that prolonging an extradition dispute would not be worth the strain on relations with China and Russia.
Both China and the United States believe that maintaining the stable development of China-U.S. relations meets both sides' fundamental interests. The two sides have bigger and more important issues to focus on, such as the Korean Peninsula, the South China Sea and climate change.
During their meeting on June 9, Chinese and U.S. presidents conducted an in-depth discussion on cyber security. They shared three common understandings: admitting the existence of a cyber security problem; investigating online attacks; and carrying out dialogue to better regulate cyber space.
On July 10-11, the fifth round of the China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue was held in Washington, D.C. The two sides agreed to implement the common understandings reached by their presidents and conduct sustainable dialogue and cooperation on Internet issues. They carried out the first cyber working group conference under the strategic security dialogue framework, and confirmed the working group is the main dialogue channel between Chinese and U.S. governments on network issues.
Snowden's fate no longer has a direct connection with China, but the consequences of the event remain. Observers believe that China's Internet development strategy will more heavily emphasize independent innovation. China will increase the openness of its Internet diplomacy and play a bigger role in making international rules on the Internet.
There is no unconditional freedom and security in cyber space. Terrorism, crimes and commercial espionage are common threats and challenges of the international community. Major countries have been monitoring activities on the Internet for security purposes, but international consensus in governing such activities is still awkwardly lacking.
Neither the United States nor China can stand on the moral high ground of cyber security. As far as China is concerned, it should continue to upgrade its Internet technology, adopt a just Internet strategy, and strike a balance between rights and obligations and between ensuring security and improving people's livelihood. In this way, it will help establish a set of Internet regulations and rules acceptable to all countries and prevent hegemony, strategic confrontation and an arms race in cyber space.
The author is an op-ed contributor to Beijing Review
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