DoD Distances Itself From US Hacking Indictment of PLA Soldiers
May. 25, 2014 - 02:28PM | By MARCUS WEISGERBER | Comments
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is distancing itself from the US Justice Department’s charging of five Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) officers with 31 criminal counts of hacking and cyber espionage against six US companies.
The indictments, handed down May 19, come as the Defense Department has been working to increase its military-to-military interactions with the Chinese. Despite the charges levied by a grand jury in the Western District of Pennsylvania, senior Pentagon officials said high-level visits, military exchanges and participation in upcoming exercises will go on as planned.
“We still desire from a military perspective to further grow and develop the military-to-military relationship and to find ways to have a more productive conversation about these very tough issues — and cyber is one of them,” Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said on May 20.
Kirby and other military officials last week said the indictments were a judicial matter.
Gen. Fang Fenghui, PLA chief of the General Staff, visited the US this month. During a short May 15 press conference with US Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the word cyber was not uttered.
How the indictments affect military-to-military relations is yet to be seen.
“The degree to which these indictments affect the relationship is really up to the Chinese,” Kirby said, adding that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has not spoken with his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Chang Wanquan, about the indictments.
Adm. Jon Greenert, chief of naval operations, said his planned five-day trip to China in July is still on track. He is scheduled to meet with Adm. Wu Shengli — the PLA Navy commander who visited the United States in September. Greenert’s wife, Darleen, is also expected to travel to China.
Military officials hope the indictments do not hurt progress that has been made in recent years. Greenert said he hopes “we can continue the momentum that we have with the PLA” Navy.
Despite the cyber indictments, China — for the first time — is still expected to send four ships to the US Navy’s Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise in Hawaii this summer.
Greenert and Wu had a productive visit last September, agreeing to several initiatives, including exchanges at the academies and war colleges and for intermediate-level, senior-level and medical officers. They also agreed on humanitarian and hospital ship ex*changes, as well as RIMPAC participation.
“We’ve gone as complex and comprehensive with their attendance at RIMPAC as feasible and they’re pleased with that,” Greenert said.
The US has been working to improve communications between ships operating in the South and East China seas, where officials have sought to prevent miscalculation and misunderstanding.
Last month, a number of Pacific navies, including China and the US, signed the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea.
While DoD and the Chinese do not “see eye-to-eye on every aspect” it is “[a]ll the more reason to keep the military-to-military communications open and keep working at this,” Kirby said.
The Charges
The US indictment says five PLA officers with the infamous cyber Unit 61398 conspired to hack into private US companies’ networks to steal trade secrets and give unfair competitive advantage to Chinese state-owned companies.
“We certainly support and stand by the Justice Department indictments,” Kirby said. “It represents activity that has to stop; activity that we don’t condone nor do we conduct.”
Robert Anderson, FBI executive assistant director for criminal and cyber crimes, said on May 19 charges like these should be looked at as “the new normal, this is what you’re going to see on a regular basis” from the US government to protect the principle of open competition in the global economic landscape.
“This case should serve as a wake-up call as to the seriousness of the cyber threat,” added John Carlin, assistant attorney general for national security. “State actors engaged in cyber espionage for economic advantage are not immune from the law just because they hack under the shadow of their country’s flag.”
Soon after the indictments were announced, the state-run People’s Daily reported that China has suspended participation with DoD in the cyber Working Group. But other joint activities are proceeding on schedule.
“It’s a decision they made and that’s a regrettable decision,” Kirby said. “It wasn’t a decision they had to make, but this is a tough issue we don’t always agree on, but it’s one that we’ve got to keep the dialogue and the conversations open on.” ■
Paul McLeary contributed to this report.
