WASHINGTON -- The Chinese government quietly arrested a handful of hackers at the urging of the U.S. government -- a step to defuse tensions with Washington at a time when President Barack Obama's administration has threatened economic sanctions.
The action came a week or two before President Xi Jinping's state visit to Washington late last month. The hackers had been identified by U.S. officials as having stolen commercial secrets from U.S. firms to be sold or passed along to Chinese state-run companies.
The arrests come amid signs of a potential change in the power balance between the U.S. and Chinese governments on commercial cyberespionage, one of the most fraught issues between the two countries.
For years, U.S. firms and officials have said Beijing hasn't done enough to crack down on digital larceny. Experts estimate that Chinese industrial hacking costs U.S. firms tens of billions of dollars annually.
In recent weeks, U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies drew up a list of the hackers the United States wanted arrested.
"We need to know that you're serious," was the way one individual familiar with the matter described the message. "So we gave them a list, and we said, 'Look, here's these guys. Round them up.'"
Now administration officials are watching to see if China will follow through with prosecutions.
A public trial is important not only because that would be consistent with established principles of criminal justice but also because it could discourage other would-be hackers and show that the arrests were not an empty gesture.
Administration officials say they are not sure whether the arrests mark a deeper shift in China's stance or whether they were a short-term move to avoid getting hit by sanctions.
"You'd want to see it sustained over time," said one U.S. official, who, like several others, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter's sensitivity. "And in a situation when there wasn't a major state visit coming up. That will be the proof that the cooperation really is improving."
When Xi arrived in Washington, he pledged his country would not engage in commercial cyberespionage as part of a new broader agreement between the two countries aimed at lessening tensions in cyberspace.
The deal includes a Chinese commitment to provide "timely responses" to requests for assistance from the United States regarding cyberintrusions and cyberattacks. "As we move forward," the official said, "we will be watching to ensure China's words are matched by actions."
China's Public Security Bureau, which is the agency that would have jurisdiction over the arrests, did not respond to a request for comment.
White House and intelligence officials declined to comment on or confirm the arrests, but a senior administration official provided a statement: "As the president has said, we have repeatedly raised our concerns regarding cybersecurity with the Chinese, and we will continue to use all of our engagements to address our concerns directly with the Chinese."
A Section on 10/10/2015