Summit could curb security risks: experts

Security challenges existing between China and the US are expected to be a crucial aspect of the summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his American counterpart President Barack Obama on Thursday.

Experts in Washington said security issues will take a long time to tackle but both countries can work together to curb risks.

Ushering in President Xi's visit, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) held a forum on Monday on security challenges between the world's two largest economies. Experts said the two countries face many challenges, such as cybersecurity, terrorist attacks, the South China Sea and nuclear facilities in North Korea.

By finding common interests, both countries can avoid any incidents that might damage bilateral relations, they said.

Christopher Johnson, senior adviser and Freeman Chair in China Studies at CSIS, said the relationship with the US may be the most important for the Chinese government. It follows that both sides are not risk-takers and will try to avoid incidents that damage bilateral relations despite current tensions in the security sector.

Michael Green, senior vice-president for Asia and Japan chair at CSIS, said President Xi will have a working dinner at the White House on Sept 24, which is useful because a lot of issues can be discussed in such a setting.

Green also said the US and China are negotiating an agreement to not be the first to use cyberweapons to attack one another's critical infrastructure. No details have been announced concerning this agreement, but experts said cyberattacks should be stopped.

Bonnie Glaser, senior adviser for China Studies at CSIS, said the US and China are both victims of hacking. She said the US and China can figure out one or two areas that both can work together on. Some hotlines are needed as a way to find out how one side can talk to the other, she added.

Glaser said information sharing is a good thing but it is also going to be a tougher task. "But how to address [the cybersecurity problem]? The way to solve it is not obvious to me," she said. "Personally I am not optimistic on whether the summit could reach consensus or agreement on constraining cyberattacks."

President Xi told US Secretary of State John Kerry that "the broad Pacific Ocean is vast enough to embrace both China and the United States" in May when Kerry visited China.

On the maritime side, the US Navy tends to avoid conflicts with China and China also doesn't want any direct encounters between aircraft or other incidents at sea, Green said.

huyongqi@chinadaily.com.cn