US President Donald Trump publicly acknowledged that the United States carries out extensive espionage and cyberattack operations against China, during a statement to reporters after a two-day summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
Asked if he had discussed with Xi the cyberattacks that China has carried out on the US, Trump said the two leaders had exchanged mutual accusations of espionage activities. NDTV.
"Yes, we talked. He talked about the attacks we did in China. You know, what they do, we do too.", Trump declared.
The US president added that he had told his Chinese counterpart:
"We do many things to you that you don't know about."
Trump continued by saying:
"You're doing things to us that we probably know about, but we do a lot of them too. It's a double-edged sword."
His statements highlight the intense rivalry between the US and China in the field of cyber espionage and intelligence gathering, with both countries considering each other the main threat in cyberspace.
According to reports, during the visit to Beijing, the US administration took strong security measures to avoid possible eavesdropping or hacking by China.
Trump and members of the American delegation did not use personal phones, but special temporary devices and controlled communication systems.
US officials told Fox News that the measures were taken due to ongoing concerns from Washington, which considers China one of the world's most aggressive environments for cyber espionage.
"There is no secure electronic communications in China", said Bill Gage, former Secret Service agent and currently security director at Safehaven Security Group.
While Theresa Payton, former White House technology director, stated:
"We always tell people to assume that everything they say or do, physically or digitally, can be monitored."
After the summit ended, American officials threw away all the equipment and gifts received from the Chinese side, including temporary phones, identification cards, and official souvenirs.
