Obama hopes ‘tough talk’ in cybersecurity talks will persuade China to rein in hacking attacks

President Barack Obama is banking that tough talk on suspected Chinese cyberattacks will yield changes in Beijing’s behaviour and justify a decision to hold off penalising China.

American officials say China is privately showing signs of taking the matter more seriously and noted comments from President Xi Jingping this week that he’s willing to work with the US on cybersecurity.

“Those kinds of comments are at least consistent with what we have urged the Chinese to do when it comes to their policies,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Thursday. “But it certainly is not going to eliminate the concerns that we have, and it certainly is not going to reduce the priority that we place on trying to make progress on those issues.”

Obama and Xi were to meet over dinner on Thursday night and talk again at the White House on Friday.

Hacking attacks on US companies and government agencies have become a growing source of tension between the US and China.

The US has been preparing sanctions against China in retaliation for its suspected theft earlier this year of personal data of millions of current and former US government employees. But officials decided against levying the penalties ahead of Xi’s visit – in part because embarrassing the Chinese could have impacted potential cooperation during the talks that begin Thursday night.

However, some analysts say China will only see an incentive to change its cyber behaviour if it feels real consequences.