The Obama administration is crafting an unprecedented series of economic sanctions to impose on Chinese companies and individuals that have benefited from the Chinese government's cyber-espionage efforts against the U.S., specifically, the stealing of U.S. trade secrets, reports The Washington Post.
Several administration officials speaking on the condition of anonymity told the Post that the government has not made a final determination as to whether it will apply the sanctions, but said the decision could be made within the next two weeks.
"The executive order authorizes the Treasury secretary, in consultation with the attorney general and secretary of state, to impose the sanctions on companies, individuals or entities that have harmed national security, or the nation's economy or foreign policy," writes the Post. "It's not clear how many firms or individuals will be targeted, though one official said the Chinese firms would be large and multinational. Their activity must meet one of four 'harms': attacking critical infrastructure, such as a power grid; disrupting major computer networks; stealing intellectual property or trade secrets; or benefiting from the stolen secrets and property."
Despite a number of diplomatic warnings, Chinese theft of U.S. trade and commercial data continues to increase, so sanctions are the only reasonable option left, officials said.
One of the officials said the plan will send "a signal to Beijing that the administration is going to start fighting back on economic espionage, and it sends a signal to the private sector that we're on your team. It tells China, enough is enough."
The sanctions would partially be in retaliation for Chinese hackers allegedly stealing nuclear power plant designs, search engine source code and confidential negotiating positions of energy companies, among other breaches. China is also the main suspect in the recent hacking of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) that compromised personal and financial data of more than 22 million current and former government workers and their families. But since the OPM hacks were determined to have been carried out for traditional intelligence purposes rather than to benefit Chinese industry, the sanctions are not in response to that incident. China has vehemently denied it was behind the attack.
If the U.S. does go through with the sanctions, it would "mark the first use of an order signed by President Obama in April establishing the authority to freeze financial and property assets of, and bar commercial transactions with, individuals and entities overseas who engage in destructive attacks or commercial espionage in cyberspace," the Post said.
The National Security Agency is also considering additional classified retaliatory measures to punish China, one of the officials said. Intelligence officials believe China is looking to expose undercover U.S. agents and obtain information that can be used to bribe or blackmail officials who have access to classified information, according to Bloomberg.
The sanction plans come ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the U.S. in September, where he will receive a 21-gun salute on the White House's South Lawn along with a lavish state dinner.
"Sanctions come at a very sensitive moment as [China's] president, Xi Jinping, is about to visit the U.S. At the same time, U.S. presidential candidates, especially Republican candidates [such as] Donald Trump, have been attacking China. So, President Xi Jinping expects a lot of pressure and a lot of criticism during his visit to the United States because it is political campaign time," Joseph Cheng, a political analyst from Hong Kong City University, told RT.
