The most recent WikiLeaks data dump has China concerned that the United States has the ability to hack into devices manufactured by Chinese companies.
This has led the Chinese government to request that U.S. intelligence agencies not conduct operations against China through these devices, according to a Reuters report. The news wire noted that devices like home network routers by the Chinese firms Huawei and ZTE were among the devices mentioned in the WikiLeaks documents as being susceptible to CIA hacking tools.
"We urge the U.S. side to stop listening in, monitoring, stealing secrets and internet hacking against China and other countries," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuangsaid said, according to Reuters.
Any cyberespionage that does take place by either side would not necessarily break the U.S., China Cyber Agreement, which was inked in September 2015, as that document attempts to stop the theft of intellectual property rights. However, some wording in the document would suggest the two sides did promise to work together to promote to limit such activity.
“Both sides are committed to making common effort to further identify and promote appropriate norms of state behavior in cyberspace within the international community,” the agreement states.
