President Obama:
I know we're a little behind, but that's mainly because President Xi and I had
a very constructive conversation on a whole range of
strategic issues, from North Korea to cyberspace
to international institutions. And I'm very much
looking forward to continuing the conversation, not only tonight at dinner
but also tomorrow. But I thought we'd take a quick
break just to take a question from both the U.S.
and Chinese press. So what I'll do is I'll
start with Julie Pace and then President Xi can call
on a Chinese counterpart. The Press:
Thank you, Mr. President. How damaging has Chinese
cyber-hacking been to the U.S.? And did you warn your
counterpart about any specific consequences if those
actions continue? And also, while there are
obviously differences between China's alleged actions and
your government's surveillance programs, do you think that the
new NSA revelations undermine your position on these issues
at all during these talks? And President Xi, did -- President Obama:
Why don't you let
the interpreter -- The Press:
And President Xi,
did you acknowledge in your talks
with President Obama that China has been launching
cyber attacks against the U.S.? Do you also believe
that the U.S. is launching similar attacks against China? And if so, can you tell us what any of the
targets may have been? Thank you. President Obama:
Well, Julie, first of all,
we haven't had, yet, in-depth discussions about
the cybersecurity issue. We're speaking at the
40,000-foot level, and we'll have more
intensive discussions during this evening's dinner. What both President Xi
and I recognize is that because of these incredible
advances in technology, that the issue of cybersecurity
and the need for rules and common approaches
to cybersecurity are going to be
increasingly important as part of bilateral relationships and multilateral relationships. In some ways,
these are uncharted waters and you don't have
the kinds of protocols that have governed
military issues, for example, and arms issues,
where nations have a lot of experience in trying to
negotiate what's acceptable and what's not. And it's critical,
as two of the largest economies and military powers
in the world, that China and
the United States arrive at a firm understanding of how we work together
on these issues. But I think it's important,
Julie, to get to the second part of your question, to distinguish
between the deep concerns we have as a government around
theft of intellectual property or hacking into systems that
might disrupt those systems -- whether it's our financial
systems, our critical infrastructure and so forth --
versus some of the issues that have been raised
around NSA programs. When it comes to those
cybersecurity issues like hacking or theft,
those are not issues that are unique
to the U.S.-China relationship. Those are issues that are
of international concern. Oftentimes it's non-state actors who are engaging in
these issues as well. And we're going to have to work
very hard to build a system of defenses and protections,
both in the private sector and in the public sector, even as we negotiate
with other countries around setting up common
rules of the road. And as China continues
in its development process and more of its economy is based
on research and innovation and entrepreneurship, they're going to have
similar concerns. Which is why I believe
we can work together on this rather than at cross-purposes. Now, the NSA program,
as I discussed this morning, is a very limited issue, but it does have
broad implications for our society because you've
got a lot of data out there, a lot of communications
that are in cyberspace. And how we deal with both identifying potential
terrorists or criminals, how the private sector
deals with potential theft, and how the federal government,
state governments, local governments, and the
private sector coordinate to keep out some of
these malicious forces while still preserving
the openness and the incredible power of
the Internet and the web and these new
telecommunications systems -- that's a complicated and
important piece of business. But it's different from these
issues of theft and hacking. And every government is then
inevitably going to be involved in these issues,
just like big companies are going to be involved
in these issues. I mean, you've got
private companies that have a lot more data and a lot more details
about people's emails and telephone calls than the
federal government does. And if we're called upon
not only to make sure that we're anticipating
terrorist communications but we're also called upon to
work with the private sector to prevent theft out of ATMs,
et cetera, then we're going to
have to find ways to deal with this big data in ways that are consistent
with our values; in ways that protect
people's privacy, that ensure oversight,
and strike the right balance. And as I indicated this morning, that's a conversation
that I welcome having. President Xi: (as interpreted)
As President Obama said, in our meeting this afternoon we just briefly touched upon
the issue of cybersecurity. And the Chinese government is
firm in upholding cybersecurity and we have major concerns
about cybersecurity. In the few days before President
Obama and I meet today, I note sharp increased
media coverage of the issue of cybersecurity. This might give people the sense
or feeling that cybersecurity as a threat mainly comes from
China or that the issue of cybersecurity is
the biggest problem in the China-U.S. relationship. The application of
new technology is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it will drive
progress in ensuring better material and cultural
life for the people. On the other hand, it might
create some problems for regulators and it might infringe
upon the rights of states, enterprises, societies
and individuals. We need to pay close attention
to this issue and study ways to effectively
resolve this issue. And this matter can actually
be an area for China and the United States to work
together with each other in a pragmatic way. And I'm happy to learn that within the context
of the China-U.S. strategic and economic dialogue,
a working group has been established to discuss
cybersecurity issues. So this is an issue that the two
sides will continue to discuss. By conducting good-faith
cooperation we can remove misgivings and make information
security and cybersecurity a positive area of cooperation
between China and the U.S. Because China and the
United States both have a need and both share a concern, and China is a victim
of cyber attacks and we hope that
earnest measures can be taken to
resolve this matter. Thank you. The Press:
I'm with China
Central Television and my question
for President Xi is, what are the main issues
that were discussed in the longer-than-expected
meeting this afternoon? And what are the
major areas of consensus that have emerged
from the discussion? And last year, when you were
visiting the United States, you raised the concept of the
two sides working together to explore what you call a
new model of major country relationship, something
that is unprecedented in the relationship and that can inspire
future generations. And after this
concept was raised, there has been much discussion
and comment on it, both in China
and the United States and in the world more broadly. So did you have further
discussion on this issue in your meeting this afternoon? And my question
for President Obama is, what will the United States do to contribute to the
building of a new model of major country relationship
between China and the U.S.? President Xi: (as interpreted)
In the first meeting that I've had with
President Obama this afternoon, we had an in-depth, sincere
and candid discussion on the domestic and
foreign policies of China and the United States, on our joint work to
build a new model of major country relationship, and our international
and regional issues of mutual interest. And the President
and I reached important consensus
on these issues. I stated very clearly
to President Obama that China will be
firmly committed to the path of
peaceful development and China will be firm
in deepening reform and opening up the country
wider to the world. China will work hard to
realize the Chinese dream of the great national renewal and will work hard to push
forward the noble cause of peace and development
for all mankind. By the Chinese dream, we seek
to have economic prosperity, national renewal and
people's well-being. The Chinese dream is about
cooperation, development, peace and win-win, and it is connected
to the American Dream and the beautiful dreams people
in other countries may have. President Obama and I both
believe that in the age of economic globalization and
facing the objective need of countries sticking together
in the face of difficulties, China and the United States
must find a new path -- one that is different from the inevitable
confrontation and conflict between the major
countries of the past. And that is to say the two sides
must work together to build a new model of major country
relationship based on mutual respect and win-win cooperation
for the benefit of the Chinese and American peoples, and
people elsewhere in the world. The international community looks to China and the
United States to deliver this. When China and the
United States work together, we can be an anchor
for world stability and the propeller
of world peace. I stand ready to work with
President Obama to expand on all levels of exchanges
between the two sides. I look forward to maintaining
close communication with the President
through mutual visits, bilateral meetings, exchange
of letters and phone calls. And I invited President
Obama to come to China at an appropriate time for
a similar meeting like this. And we look forward to
visiting each other country. At the same time, the two sides
will work hard to make progress in the various
bilateral mechanisms, such as the strategic
and economic dialogue and the high-level consultation
on people-to-people exchange. Also, the Chinese
Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese Minister
of National Defense will both make visits to the
United States within the year. Our two sides should also step
up exchanges and cooperation in economy and trade, energy,
environment, people-to-people, and cultural fields, as well as
at the sub-national level, so that we can deepen the shared
interests of the two countries and expand them to all areas. We should also improve
and strengthen the military-to-military
relationship between the two countries and promote the
building of a new model of military relationship
between the two sides. The two sides should
also improve coordination on microeconomic policies so that
by strengthening cooperation, we can contribute to our
respective development at home, and promote strong, sustainable
and balanced economic growth in the Asia Pacific region
and the world at large. And I'm confident in our joint
effort to build a new model of major country relationship. I believe success hinges
on the human effort. Firstly, both sides
have the political will to build this relationship. Secondly, our cooperation
in the last 40 years provides a good foundation
for us to build on. Thirdly, between China
and the United States, there are over 90
intergovernmental mechanisms which provide the institutional
underpinning for our efforts. Fourth, there is strong public
support for this kind of relationship between China
and the United States. There are 220 pairs
of sister provinces, states and cities
between China and the U.S. There are 190,000 Chinese
students in the United States, and 20,000 American
students in China. And fifth, there is enormous
scope for future cooperation between China and the U.S. Of course, this endeavor
is unprecedented and one that will
inspire future generations. So we need to deepen
our mutual understanding, strengthen our mutual trust, further develop our cooperation and manage our differences
so that we can avoid the traditional path
of inevitable confrontation between major countries and
really embark on a new path. The Chinese nation and American
nation are great nations, and the Chinese people
and American people are great peoples. As long as we stand
high and look far, as long as we make
specific progress and accumulate them over time, as long as we maintain
confidence and determination, as long as we have
wisdom and patience, I'm confident that
we will succeed in achieving this
historical mission. I'm sorry for going too long. Thank you. President Obama:
Well, I think President Xi
summarized very well the scope of
our conversations. We spoke about some very
specific issues -- for example, President Xi
mentioned the importance of military-to-military
communications. In the past, we've had
high-level diplomatic communications about economic
and strategic issues, but we haven't always
had as effective communications between our militaries. And at a time when there's so
much activity around the world, it's very important that we
each understand our strategic objectives at the military as
well as the political levels. So that's an example
of concrete progress that can advance this
new model of relations between the United
States and China. So we'll be taking steps
to institutionalize and regularize such discussions. But more broadly, I think
President Xi identified the essence of our discussions in which we shared
our respective visions for our countries'
futures and agreed that we're more likely
to achieve our objectives of prosperity and
security of our people if we are working
together cooperatively, rather than engaged in conflict. And I emphasized my
firm belief to President Xi that it is very much
in the interest of the United States for China to continue
its peaceful rise, because if China is successful, that helps to drive the world
economy and it puts China in the position to work
with us as equal partners in dealing with many
of the global challenges that no single nation
can address by itself. So, for example, neither country
by itself can deal with the challenge
of climate change. That's an issue that we'll
have to deal with together. China as the largest country,
as it continues to develop, will be a larger and
larger carbon emitter unless we find new
mechanisms for green growth. The United States, we have
the largest carbon footprint per capita in the world; we've got to bring
down our carbon levels in order to accommodate
continued growth. And so that will translate
then into opportunities for specific work
around green technologies and research and development, and interactions between our
scientists so that we can, together, help advance the
goal of a sustainable planet, even as we continue
to grow and develop. We've got a lot of work to do to
take these broad understandings down to the level of specifics,
and that will require further discussions
not only today and tomorrow, but for weeks,
months, years to come. But what I'm very encouraged
about is that both President Xi and myself recognize
we have a unique opportunity to take the U.S.-China
relationship to a new level. And I am absolutely
committed to making sure that we don't miss
that opportunity. Thank you very much, everybody.
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President Obama discusses recent NSA concerns with President Xi Jinping of China
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