Former US secretary of state and potential Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton accused China on Saturday of stealing commercial secrets and “huge amounts of government information,” and of trying to “hack into everything that doesn’t move in America.”
Clinton’s language on China appeared to be far stronger than that usually used by US President Barack Obama’s administration.
Speaking at a campaign event in New Hampshire, Clinton said she wanted to see China’s peaceful rise.
“But we also have to be fully vigilant, China’s military is growing very quickly, they’re establishing military installations that again threaten countries we have treaties with, like the Philippines, because they are building on contested property,” Clinton said. “They’re also trying to hack into everything that doesn’t move in America. Stealing commercial secrets ... from defense contractors, stealing huge amounts of government information, all looking for an advantage.”
Clinton is the front-runner to win the Democratic nomination for the US presidential election in November next year.
Asked about the remarks, a White House official declined to comment.
In the most recent case involving suspicions of Chinese hacking, Obama administration officials have said China is the top suspect in the massive hacking of a US government agency that compromised the personnel records of at least 4.2 million current and former government workers.
China has denied hacking into the computers of the US Office of Personnel Management.
Clinton also addressed the current talks over Iran’s nuclear program and had strong words for Tehran.
Even if a deal is reached with Iran, Tehran’s “aggressiveness will not end” and it will remain a principal state sponsor of terrorism, she said.
Clinton said she hoped that “a strong verifiable deal” would be reached at talks in Vienna between world powers and Iran.
“[Even with an agreement] they will continue to be the principal state sponsor of terrorism. They will continue to destabilize governments in the region and beyond. They will continue to use their proxies like Hezbollah and they will continue to be an existential threat to Israel,” she said.
The US, other world powers and Iran have set a deadline for tomorrow to reach a deal to curb Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for a lifting of sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy, she said.
The US has to be “much smarter” about how it deals with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s territorial ambitions, she said at the event.
Putin’s moves to expand Russia’s boundaries, such as the annexation of Crimea last year, pose a challenge for the US, but she touted her experience as the countries top diplomat.
She said that because of NATO members’ agreement to protect fellow members, had Ukraine been a member of NATO when Crimea was annexed, “that would have caused us to have to respond.”
“I’ve dealt with him. I know him. He’s not an easy man ... but I don’t think there is any substitute other than constant engagement,” she said of Putin.
LIMITS: While China increases military pressure on Taiwan and expands its use of cognitive warfare, it is unwilling to target tech supply chains, the report said US and Taiwan military officials have warned that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could implement a blockade within “a matter of hours” and need only “minimal conversion time” prior to an attack on Taiwan, a report released on Tuesday by the US Senate’s China Economic and Security Review Commission said. “While there is no indication that China is planning an imminent attack, the United States and its allies and partners can no longer assume that a Taiwan contingency is a distant possibility for which they would have ample time to prepare,” it said. The commission made the comments in its annual
DETERMINATION: Beijing’s actions toward Tokyo have drawn international attention, but would likely bolster regional coordination and defense networks, the report said Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration is likely to prioritize security reforms and deterrence in the face of recent “hybrid” threats from China, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said. The bureau made the assessment in a written report to the Legislative Yuan ahead of an oral report and questions-and-answers session at the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The key points of Japan’s security reforms would be to reinforce security cooperation with the US, including enhancing defense deployment in the first island chain, pushing forward the integrated command and operations of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and US Forces Japan, as
INTERCEPTION: The 30km test ceiling shows that the CSIST is capable of producing missiles that could stop inbound missiles as they re-enter the atmosphere Recent missile tests by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST) show that Taiwan’s missiles are capable of intercepting ballistic missiles as they re-enter the atmosphere and pose a significant deterrent to Chinese missile threats, former Hsiung Feng III missile development project chief engineer Chang Cheng (張誠) said yesterday. The military-affiliated institute has been conducting missile tests, believed to be related to Project Chiang Kung (強弓) at Pingtung County’s Jiupeng Military Base, with many tests deviating from past practices of setting restriction zones at “unlimited” and instead clearly stating a 30.48km range, Chang said. “Unlimited” restrictions zones for missile tests is
NO CHANGES: A Japanese spokesperson said that Tokyo remains consistent and open for dialogue, while Beijing has canceled diplomatic engagements A Japanese official blasted China’s claims that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has altered Japan’s position on a Taiwan crisis as “entirely baseless,” calling for more dialogue to stop ties between Asia’s top economies from spiraling. China vowed to take resolute self-defense against Japan if it “dared to intervene militarily in the Taiwan Strait” in a letter delivered Friday to the UN. “I’m aware of this letter,” said Maki Kobayashi, a senior Japanese government spokeswoman. “The claim our country has altered its position is entirely baseless,” she said on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Johannesburg on Saturday. The Chinese Ministry
RSS