Obama Backs Away From Sanctions on China for Cyber Attacks

The United States has backed down from plans to impose economic sanctions on China for cyber attacks after both countries agreed to curb economic spying, President Obama indicated Friday.

“I raised once again our very serious concerns about growing cyber-threats to American companies and American citizens,” Obama said. “I indicated that it has to stop.”

Obama said that he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed in principle that “governments don’t engage in cyber espionage for commercial gain against companies.”

“What I’ve said to President Xi and what I say to the American people is, the question now is, are words followed by action?” Obama said. “And we will be watching carefully to make an assessment as to whether progress has been made in this area” . . .

In response to the hacking of records on 22 million federal workers stolen from Office of Personnel Management networks, the president said he is ready to impose limited sanctions, and will closely monitor whether China backs off large-scale cyber attacks. (Read more from “Obama Backs Away From Sanctions on China for Cyber Attacks” HERE)

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