In a dramatic and unprecedented move, the U.S. Justice Department indicted 5 officers in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) for cyber spying for commercial purposes. There is much speculation on what the objective of this move was. What is the end game?
Robert Daly, Director of the Kissinger Institute refers to it as “name and shame.” And while he understands the motivation, he questions whether anything good will come from it.
I don’t mean to imply that America is wrong about the facts in this case. I do wonder if our policy is wrong-headed. If our goal is to alleviate the problem, making China lose face (I know, I know—they did it to themselves) is not the way to go. China cares more about face than we do and will fight harder to save it. Bilateral and multilateral consultation will yield better results over an arduous, imperfect long run. The best we’ve got is unsatisfactory, but it’s still the best we’ve got.