UNCLASSIFIED U S Department of State Case No F-2014-21465 Doc No C05754615 Date 06 08 2015 CLASS FI CATI ON UNCLASSI FI ED Page 1o1 5 From SMART Archive Sent 6 17 2014 4 21 25 AM To SMART Core Subject China Uses UN Conference to Promote Its Vision of Cyberspace Blast U S Surveillance UNCLASSIFIED RELEASE IN FULL SBU REVIEW AUTHORITY Clarke Ellis Senior Reviewer MRN 14 BEIJING 2134 Date DTG Jun 17 2014 170819Z JUN 14 From AMEMBASSY BEIJING Action WASHDC SECSTATE IMMEDIATE E O 13526 TAGS PREL PGOV PINR ECON KCYB AINT TINT CH Captions SENSITIVE Subject China Uses UN Conference to Promote Its Vision of Cyberspace Blast U S Surveillance 1 SBU Summary During his remarks to open the June 5-6 China-United Nations co-hosted International Workshop on Information and Cybersecurity PRC Vice Foreign Minister VFM Li Baodong delivered a sharp rebuke of U S government surveillance while promoting China's vision of peace state sovereignty co-governance and cooperation in cyberspace China plugged its co-sponsored International Code of Conduct for Information Security and called for a greater role for the United Nations in Internet governance Looking ahead to the UN Group of Governmental Experts meeting in July on cyber issues China called for a discussion of privacy concerns and new international norms in cyberspace to supplement existing international law Participants were divided over how extensive a role the UN should play in cybersecurity with most agreeing the UN should continue to facilitate international dialogue on rather than attempt to manage cyberspace End Summary China Calls for More Cyber Cooperation 2 SBU China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs MFA and the United Nations Regional Center for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific UNRCPD co-hosted the International Workshop on Information and Cybersecuri t y Towards a Peaceful Secure Open and Cooperative Cyberspace June 5-6 in Beijing Participants included representatives from ASEAN and P5 member states Germany Pakistan Australia New Zealand Japan Sri Lanka South Africa and Chinese and international think tanks This marked China's first time co-hosting a UN conference on cybersecurity Panel topics included discussions on states' cyberspace policies and emerging challenges the formulation of international rules and norms in cyberspace CLASS FI CATI ON UNCLASSI FI ED Page 1 of 5 UNCLASSIFIED U S Department of State Case No F-2014-21465 Doc No C05754615 Date 06 08 2015 UNCLASSIFIED U S Department of State Case No F-2014-21465 Doc No C05754615 Date 06 08 2015 CLASS FI CATI ON UNCLASSI FI ED Page 2 of 5 the role of the United Nations in promoting cybersecurity dialogue cyber cooperation among national level actors and regional cooperation and capacity building After a Few Opening Barbs 3 SBU During his opening remarks PRC Vice Foreign Minister VFM Li Baodong wasted little time in slamming the United States Without directly naming the United States Li told participants that the imbalanced situation in which an individual country could conduct massive surveillance and infringe upon the privacy of other nations' citizens must be corrected Li said China was committed to dialogue on cyber issues on the basis of mutual respect but could not accept a situation in which another country exercises double standards draws lines out of its selfish interests defames others and displays hypocritical hegemonic behavior Instead of reflecting on its behavior that has undermined the sovereignty of other nations and the privacy of those nations' citizens that individual country paints itself as a victim Panel Highlights Cyberspace Policies and Emerging Challenges 4 SBU During the first session panelists described aspects of their respective governments' cyber policies and focused on some of the main challenges they face Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Response Team CERT Operations Manager Rohana Palliyaguru described the difficulties ICT information and communications technology managers face in convincing their companies' executives to invest in better ICT security systems as the latter group sees no tangible benefits from doing so Japanese Ambassador for Cyber Policy Shimmi Jun spoke of the need for widespread application of international law in cyberspace and of Japan's short-term plans to provide capacity-building assistance to developing countries in ASEAN and longterm plans to similarly aid other countries in the Asia-Pacific and Africa Ambassador Shimmi also strongly endorsed the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime MFA Cyber Affairs Office Director Li Chijiang said overreliance on another country's ICT products and the unsecure flow of information threatened China's cybersecurity Countries need laws to manage that flow of information he asserted MFA Cyber Coordinator Outlines PRC Views on Cyber Norms 5 SBU Opening the second session on the formulation of international norms in cyberspace MFA Coordinator for Cyber Affairs Fu Cong echoed many of the same lines -- and requisite U S -bashing -- used in VFM Li Baodong's opening address Fu touted China's role in co-sponsoring the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's SCO International Code of Conduct for Information Security ISCoC as evidence of China's willingness to make important contributions to international cyber norms-making The ISCoC had won the support of many countries he claimed China was watching with great interest how ICANN Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers would move out from under direct U S government control and believed ICANN should go a step further by physically moving its offices out of the United States so as to be free of control by unilateral CLASS FI CATI ON UNCLASSI FI ED Page 2 of 5 UNCLASSIFIED U S Department of State Case No F-2014-21465 Doc No C05754615 Date 06 08 2015 UNCLASSIFIED U S Department of State Case No F-2014-21465 Doc No C05754615 Date 06 08 2015 CLASSI FI CATI ON UNCLASSI FI ED Page 3 of 5 forces said Fu ICANN's government advisory committees GAC should have more representatives from developing countries as members and those members should be given a bigger say in ICANN Fu also called for strengthening the mandate of the Internet Governance Forum China was not opposed to the multi-stakeholder model of Internet management but believed governments should play the primary role 6 SBU Looking ahead to July's meeting of the UN Group of Governmental Experts GGE Fu called on GGE participants to study objectively the 2013 GGE report which he said reflected international consensus to define the principle of sovereignty and the applicability of international law in cyberspace China believes the body of existing international law is insufficient to deal with the challenges of cyberspace and that there needed to be new international norms Fu asserted The GGE should also discuss states' privacy concerns in the context of norms of behavior in cyberspace Even though privacy is discussed as part of a broader discussion on human rights at the UN Third Committee that did not preclude talking about it during the GGE Fu opined 7 SBU Norms of behavior were also needed to prevent cyber warfare Fu Cong stressed adding that the emergence of Stuxnet came against the background of some countries developing offensive cyber weapons It was not acceptable to develop cyber weapons first and seek to control them later he argued 8 SBU The reason China and other countries so jealously guard the principle of state sovereignty in cyberspace is because some countries use the principle of free flow of information to propagate lies against other governments explained Fu Unless countries abide by the principle of non-interference in other states' affairs China has no choice but to safeguard its sovereignty in cyberspace The Snowden leaks revealed the magnitude of U S surveillance which made it more than just an old issue of state-on-state espionage argued Fu Pushing Back on China's Claims 9 SBU Germany's Head of International Cyber Policy Martin Fleischer challenged several of Fu Cong's claims It was false to assert that a few western countries dominated Internet governance he said pointing out that each ICANN member country had one vote in the organization Fleischer also called it illogical to see a link between U S oversight over ICANN and NSA surveillance and cast doubt on the view that only under the UN framework could Internet governance be made more democratic and efficient UK-based International Institute of Security Studies' IISS Director of Transnational Threats Nigel Inkster asked rhetorically whether any government that had technical surveillance capabilities on par with those of the U S National Security Agency NSA would not have used them for national security purposes as the United States had Split Over UN Role in Cybersecurity 10 SBU In the third session participants were divided over the role the CLASSI FI CATI ON UNCLASSI FI ED Page 3 of 5 UNCLASSIFIED U S Department of State Case No F-2014-21465 Doc No C05754615 Date 06 08 2015 UNCLASSIFIED U S Department of State Case No F-2014-21465 Doc No C05754615 Date 06 08 2015 CLASSI FI CATI ON UNCLASSI FI ED Page 4 of 5 United Nations should play in cybersecurity Representatives from UN agencies described the UN as a unique platform for promoting international dialogue on cybercrime and cybersecurity and building capacity but dismissed any attempt to outsource cyber issues wholesale to the UN or to ascribe to it the role of global cyber policeman IISS's Nigel Inkster called for the UN to develop practical working arrangements with entities such as ICANN and the Internet Engineering Task Force IETF rather than seeking to supplant them Chinese Ministry of State Security-affiliated China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations CICIR Vice President Yang Mingjie said the UN's inclusiveness and unparalleled authority made it a critical player on cybersecurity issues and contrasted it with what he called ICANN's lack of inclusiveness Yang also recommended that the UN ensure it has adequate financial resources to follow up on activities of the Internet Government Forum and the GGE Georgina Sargison an official from New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade argued that the UN could not be the main actor on Internet governance issues and that its main role should instead be as facilitator of such debate Challenges and Opportunities of Cyber Cooperation 11 SBU During the final two sessions discussants raised the challenges and opportunities posed by cooperation on cyber issues MFA-affiliated China Institute of International Studies CIIS Associate Research Fellow Xu Longdi reflected his government's view that states must command the central role in guarding cyberspace because only states could mobilize social forces and connect policy with technical aspects of cyberspace U S Information Technology Office USITO President Matt Roberts stressed that governments alone are ill-equipped to develop Internet standards because they cannot keep up with the pace of innovation Dialogue and partnership between governments and the private sector are critical to Internet security he added 12 SBU Republic of Korea Ministry of Foreign Affairs International Security Division Deputy Director Kang Joo-yeon described her country's strategic decision to rely on a free open cyberspace to drive new economic growth policies Many countries were losing out on such opportunities by focusing too much on threats she observed The 2013 Seoul Conference on Cyberspace increased global awareness of cyber issues and highlighted the need for more cyber cooperation she recalled but it was far too premature to entertain talk of any treaty on cyberspace as some participants had called for After all how many countries were even prepared to negotiate a cyberspace treaty when they did not yet fully understand the issues she asked Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Assistant Secretary for International Security Ian Biggs and UK Cabinet Office Assistant Director for Cyber Security and Information Assurance Olivia Preston voiced their governments' support for increasing cyber capacitybuilding and enhancing cooperation on cyber issues The U S Viewpoint 13 SBU State Department Deputy Coordinator for Cyber Issues Tom Dukes CLASSI FI CATI ON UNCLASSI FI ED Page 4 of 5 UNCLASSIFIED U S Department of State Case No F-2014-21465 Doc No C05754615 Date 06 08 2015 UNCLASSIFIED U S Department of State Case No F-2014-21465 Doc No C05754615 Date 06 08 2015 CLASSI FI CATI ON UNCLASSI FI ED Page 5of 5 laid out the U S vision for an open interoperable secure and reliable cyberspace He emphasized the importance of the free flow of information and U S support for the multi-stakeholder system of Internet governance Dukes noted the U S participation in Brazil's recently concluded Net Mundial conference and cited U S support for the upcoming UN GGE and the development of cyber confidence-building measures in fora such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Finally he pointed out that the SCO ISCoC is fundamentally at odds with freedom and human rights and emphasized the importance of bilateral and multilateral dialogue on cyber issues Signature KRITENBRINK Drafted By BEIJING Flens William Bill Beijing Cleared By SCCI TDukes ECON THilleary ECON KWald Approved By POL Heller James R Beijing Released By BEIJING Flens William Bill Beijing Info BEIJING AMEMBASSY ROUTINE CD GENEVA USMISSION ROUTINE WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC ROUTINE SECDEF WASHINGTON DC ROUTINE CIA WASHINGTON DC ROUTINE DIA WASHINGTON DC ROUTINE HQ USPACOM ROUTINE ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE ROUTINE UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE ROUTINE Dissemination Rule Archive Copy UNCLASSIFIED SBU CLASSI FI CATI ON UNCLASSI FI ED Page 5 of 5 UNCLASSIFIED U S Department of State Case No F-2014-21465 Doc No C05754615 Date 06 08 2015