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Chinese and U.S. Views of Cybersecurity Have Very Little Overlap

• The United States and China have very different perspectives on cyberspace. The United States emphasizes extending the rule of law internationally. China stresses the maintenance of state sovereignty.
• The most important U.S. interest on the bilateral agenda is for China to eliminate espionage for commercial gain and modulate its other cyber-espionage activities. The hack of the Office of Personnel Management was a particular sore point.
• Within the bilateral relationship, the United States places more importance on cyberspace issues than China does. Chinese behavior in cyberspace is often the top item on the bilateral agenda; U.S. behavior in cyberspace rarely makes China's top-ten list.

Avoiding Targeting or Carrying Out Espionage on Critical Infrastructure Provides Prospects for Negotiating a Set of Norms

• The Chinese appear interested in norms against countries attacking one another's critical infrastructure. They also understand that such a norm would also have to forbid espionage against critical infrastructure (distinguishing espionage from implanting attacks is very hard).
• The United States believes it can catch Chinese cheating and would like some process by which cheating, once discovered, is acknowledged — with possible consequences to follow.
• The Chinese believe they are unlikely to catch cheating by the United States and are apprehensive of any agreement that would put them at a corresponding disadvantage.
• Any serious agreement would need a process that both sides could trust and may require some way to increase China's confidence it is own attribution capabilities.