The Competition between Sino-US Cyber Security since the Administration of Barack Obama
Author
Zheng, Siqi
Term
4. term
Publication year
2019
Pages
60
Abstract
This thesis examines the evolution of Sino–US cyber security competition since the Obama administration. Framed by the growing centrality of networks and information technology—as a dominant factor of production in the new world economy—it analyzes why cyber security has become an obstacle to both countries’ political and economic development and how it has reshaped the bilateral relationship. The research questions address the levels at which these barriers arise and the changes cyber security brings to Sino–US relations. The study adopts an international political economy approach, drawing on interdependence theory, national interest theory, and world-systems theory, and employs qualitative case studies of the PRISM disclosures and the ZTE/Huawei controversy, informed by literature on US cyber strategies and Chinese analyses. The preliminary findings indicate that cooperation is largely confined to combating cybercrime, while competition predominates in domestic legislation, technological development, militarization, and international rule-making. Asymmetries in capabilities and postures (a more offensive United States and a more defensive China), coupled with mutual distrust, hinder the formation of durable cooperation mechanisms. Cyber security also shapes innovation, economic security, and institutional environments, with the rivalry reflecting both US efforts to maintain hegemony and China’s efforts to rise within the international system.
Specialet undersøger udviklingen i cybersikkerhedskonkurrencen mellem Kina og USA siden Obama-administrationen. Med afsæt i den voksende betydning af netværk og informationsteknologi – forstået som en dominerende produktionsfaktor i den nye verdensøkonomi – analyserer specialet, hvorfor cybersikkerhed er blevet en hindring for begge landes politiske og økonomiske udvikling, og hvordan den har omformet relationen mellem dem. Forskningsspørgsmålene adresserer, på hvilket niveau disse barrierer opstår, og hvilke ændringer cybersikkerhed skaber i de bilaterale relationer. Tilgangen er forankret i international politisk økonomi og trækker på interdependensteori, nationalinteresseteori og verdenssystemteori samt en kvalitativ caseanalyse af PRISM-sagen og striden om ZTE/Huawei; litteraturen om USA’s cyberstrategier og kinesiske perspektiver inddrages som baggrund. Ifølge den foreløbige analyse er samarbejdet primært begrænset til bekæmpelse af cyberkriminalitet, mens konkurrence dominerer inden for national lovgivning, teknologiudvikling, militarisering og internationale spilleregler. Asymmetrier i kapaciteter og strategier (USA mere offensiv, Kina mere defensiv) samt gensidig mistillid gør det vanskeligt at etablere holdbare samarbejdsmekanismer. Cybersikkerhed påvirker samtidig innovation, økonomisk sikkerhed og de institutionelle rammer, og konkurrencen afspejler både USA’s bestræbelser på at bevare hegemoni og Kinas bestræbelser på at avancere i det internationale system.
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