China silent on Snowden case, but hits out at 'double standards'
China silent on Snowden case, but hits out at 'double standards'
China on Thursday said it had "no information" on the case of former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee Edward Snowden who last month fled the U.S. for Hong Kong, but hit out at Washington's "double standards" in the wake of new revelations about a widespread domestic and overseas cyber surveillance programme.
Mr. Snowden (29), who left Hawaii on May 20 for Hong Kong, said on Wednesday in comments to the South China Morning Post that he was prepared to fight any extradition requests from the U.S., expressing faith in Hong Kong's courts.
Beijing can, however, exert its influence on extradition cases on the Chinese Special Administrative Region (SAR) if it deems that the cases impact its defence, foreign affairs or "essential" public interest.
Asked if Beijing had received any communication or request from the U.S. regarding Mr. Snowden and how the Chinese government would respond, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters, "We have no information to offer".
She did, however, add that Beijing had noticed reports detailing Mr. Snowden's revelations, which included new information on the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) carrying out widespread domestic and international surveillance activities.
Mr. Snowden told the South China Morning Post in an interview on Wednesday that the U.S. had been hacking into computers in Hong Kong and on the Chinese mainland, among other countries, for years.
Those revelations have appeared to boost China's position amid recent tensions with the U.S. on the issue of cyber security. While Washington has accused China of mounting organised hacking attacks targeting both government agencies and companies, Beijing has maintained that it was also the victim of similar attacks.
Ms. Hua reiterated that argument on Thursday: "As we have repeatedly said, China is also one of the major victims of hacking and cyber attacks. China strongly advocates cyber security. We think that in terms of cyber security the international community should carry out constructive dialogue and cooperation to jointly maintain peace, security, openness and cooperation of cyberspace".
She said China would "also like to carry out constructive dialogue and cooperation with countries including the U.S. based on mutual respect, mutual benefit and mutual trust", pointing out that both countries had agreed to establish a cyber security working group.
"We also think adoption of double standards," she added, "will bring no benefit to settlement of the relevant issue".
The revelations about the NSA's programmes coincided with talks last week between President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in California. The issue of cybersecurity featured prominently on the agenda for the talks.
Ms. Hua said Mr. Xi had also raised China's concerns during the talks, making the argument that "China is a victim of cyber attacks, but we also advocate cyber security".
Diplomats here say Beijing is, however, unlikely to directly involve itself in Mr. Snowden's case, taking into account its wider ties with Washington and also the recent sensitivities in Hong Kong over the Central government's perceived interference on a number of issues.
The State-run China Daily said in an article on Thursday the issue would test Sino-U.S. ties.
Zhang Tuosheng, a researcher at the China Foundation for International and Strategic Studies, told the newspaper cyber security "is still proving to be a new realm for cooperation between China and the U.S., especially in the wake of this surveillance controversy".
"Beijing and Washington, instead of criticising each other while hiding their own problems, should work together to facilitate a series of well-observed regulations," he said.
Li Haidong, a scholar at China Foreign Affairs University, added that "the United States is now stuck in the awkward position of having to explain itself to its citizens and the world following the exposure of Washington's vast Internet snooping program".
"For months, Washington has been accusing China of cyber espionage," he said, "but it turns out that the biggest threat to the pursuit of individual freedom and privacy in the US is the unbridled power of the government."
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