White House demands China stop hacking into US companies

Tom Donilon, the president's national security adviser, urged China to stop hackers from breaking into U.S. computer systems and stealing business secrets. "The international community cannot afford to tolerate such activity from any country," he said.

Officials have urged China to recognize the "urgency and scope" of the problem and to take "serious steps" to stop the hackers. He said the Chinese government should engage in a dialogue to establish acceptable rules of behavior in cyberspace. "From the President on down, this has become a key point of concern and discussion with China at all levels of our governments," Donilon said. He said cybersecurity is becoming a "growing challenge" to the economic relationship between the United States and China. Donilon did not directly accuse the Chinese government of launching the attacks on U.S. computer systems, only noting that the attacks are coming from inside the country. "Increasingly, U.S. businesses are speaking out about their serious concerns about sophisticated, targeted theft of confidential business information and proprietary technologies through cyber intrusions emanating from China on an unprecedented scale," he said.