TEMPO.CO, Rancho Mirage - US President Barack Obama received the visit of China's President Xi Jinping at Sunnyland, a luxury resort outside Palm Springs, California, on Friday local time. This was the first bilateral meeting of between the two leaders.
Before the three-hour meeting, Obama told reporters that he would discuss about cyber security in his meeting with Xi Jinping. "What both President Xi and I recognize is that because of these incredible advances in technology, that the issue of cyber security and the need for rules and common approaches to cyber security are going to be increasingly important as part of bilateral relationships and multilateral relationships," said Obama, adding that world was entering "uncharted waters" on the issue.
China has been widely linked to network break-ins of numerous Western companies and agencies. The issue has created some tension between the Americans and the Chinese lately.
Last week at the annual regional security conference in Singapore, US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel openly accused the Chinese military of hacking America's vital assets. The allegation was made before Chinese military delegation who attended the Shangri-La Dialogue.
Last month, The Washington Post reported that Chinese hackers had broken into dozens of US' weapons systems designs. One of the stolen weapons system is of the F-35 fighter aircraft. The information was obtained by The Washington Post based on the Pentagon's report.
In addition to cyber war, Obama and Xi were scheduled to discuss economic cooperation between the two countries. Obama plans to urge China to implement trade rules in accordance with the norms of the world economy.
Obama said Washington wants “an international economic order where nations are playing by the same rules, where trade is free and fair and where the United States and China work together to address issues like cyber security and protection of intellectual property”.
USA TODAY | REUTERS | WASHINGTON POST | SITA PLANASARI AQUADINI
