SINGAPORE: US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel yesterday acknowledged that the establishment of a joint cyber security working group was a positive step in fostering dialogue with China.
The Pentagon chief, speaking at a Singapore security forum attended by senior Chinese military officials, accused Beijing of waging cyber espionage against Washington and blamed the Chinese government and armed forces for repeated intrusions into sensitive US information systems.
“The US has expressed concerns about the growing threat of cyber intrusions, some of which appear to be tied to the Chinese government and military,” he told the annual conference Shangri-La Dialogue, organised by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
Hagel pressed Beijing to adhere to “international norms of responsible behaviour in cyberspace”. The conference took place ahead of the June 7-8 meeting between US President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in California, the first since Xi took office in March.
Hagel’s remarks follows dismissal by China’s defence ministry of a Pentagon report accusing Chinese hackers of accessing US weapons designs.
“First they underestimate the security defence capabilities of the Pentagon and second they underestimate the intelligence of the Chinese people,” it said.
The report was the most explicit statement yet from Washington that it believes China’s cyber spying is focused on the US government and corporations.
Hagel invited his counterparts from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to Hawaii next year, the first such meeting to be hosted by the US.
He also reaffirmed the US defence treaty with the Philippines, the most vocal opponent of Chinese territorial ambitions in the South China Sea.
Later, during talks with his Indonesian counterpart Purnomo Yusgiantoro, Hagel said the US will step up its military cooperation with Indonesia.
The forum warned that Asian countries must guard against destabilising the region with increased arms spending.
Asian governments, boosted by stronger economic growth and worried by regional tensions, have been beefing up their armed forces and there are fears the build-ups could be dangerous in the long run if not managed well.
“There are indeed inherent perceptional sensitivities in military build-ups that could create miscalculations, misjudgements, and mistrust,” Indonesian Defence Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said. Asia overtook European members of Nato in terms of nominal military spending for the first time last year, according to an IISS report released in March.
In the annual report on the world’s militaries, the IISS said China’s defence spending in real terms rose 8.3 percent between 2011 and 2012, while in Asia as a whole, spending rose 4.94 percent last year. Globally, China now ranks second behind the US in total military spending.
Philip Hammond, Britain’s Secretary of State for Sefence, said rising defence spending in Asia was “worrying” as it was taking place against the backdrop of growing tensions over territorial disputes and competition for resources.
Addressing the forum, Japan’s Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera disowned remarks by Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto who said “comfort women” forced to provide sex during the Second World War were a military necessity. The administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe “never commits to such remarks or recognition of history”, he said.
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