Cybersecurity: Biden expected to embrace tough-on-China policy, think tank says

New US administration will continue strategic rivalry but there is room for cooperation, according to report by Chinese government-affiliated institute

It also calls for a return to high-level talks on cyber issues such as digital trade, cross-border data flows and cybercrime

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The Biden administration has indicated it will prioritise cybersecurity issues. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 12:00pm, 16 Feb 2021Updated: 12:00pm, 16 Feb 2021

US President Joe Biden is expected to gradually resume cybersecurity talks with China, but will continue to fiercely compete against Beijing to maintain an upper hand in cyber strategy and in global cyberspace governance, a Chinese think tank report said.

The report by the government-affiliated Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS) said the Biden administration would carry on his predecessor Donald Trump’s tough cyber policy on China, with their intense strategic rivalry set to continue, but that there was some room for cooperation and dialogue.

“Competition will continue to be the defining feature of China-US cyber interaction in the Biden administration, as it had been during the Trump term,” the report, published in early February, said. “At the same time, initial signals from Beijing and Washington have indicated that there is still significant scope for cybersecurity cooperation in the years to come.”

President Joe Biden’s administration launched an “urgent initiative” in response to the growing threat from China and Russia. Photo: AFP

The think tank urged for a return to high-level communication between the countries to cooperate on cyber issues such as digital trade, cross-border flows of data, cybercrime and cyberspace norms. SIIS advises the Chinese government on foreign policy and international security, and its Academic Affairs Council is chaired by Yang Jiemian, brother of China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi.

Biden’s administration has signalled that it will prioritise cybersecurity issues, launching an “urgent initiative” in response to the growing threat to Washington from China and Russia. Analysts have said that the two will continue to struggle for dominance in the cyber sphere, after the Trump administration’s efforts to block countries from using 5G technology from Chinese telecoms giant Huawei Technologies and concerns from the US over Chinese espionage and intellectual property theft.