These developments show the United States considers cyber space an important battlefield equal to traditional warfare. Under the guise of so-called "cyber threats" from other countries like China, it has attempted to stir up public opinion and expand its cyber operations. These preparations could be seen as an important shift of the U.S. security concept and strategy that envisions the prospect of a full-blown cyber war.

The United States is seeking an asymmetrical absolute advantage in cyber space. Alarmingly, all previous wars started by Washington after World War II, such as the Iraq War, seemed to have followed the same routine: raising an accusation of a plausible threat to create an imaginary enemy before launching a war. In keeping with this logic, the evolution of the U.S. cyber military security strategy, if it is there, could endow the U.S. president with the power to wage an undeclared war in the cyber world after the source of a fatal cyber security threat is confirmed.

Need for cooperation

But can people say that there is already a cyber war in progress between China and the United States, or that a "cold war" has broken out in cyber space? The answer might be as opaque as cyber space itself. However, we have reason to believe that as the world's top two Internet-using countries, China and the United States will continue their competition and cooperation into the virtual world.

China's Foreign Ministry has repeatedly affirmed the country's position, saying, "China stands ready to work with the international community including the United States to carry out constructive dialogues and cooperation based on the principles of mutual respect and trust so as to jointly safeguard the 'peace, security, openness and cooperation' of cyber space."

Cyber security has also entered high-level communication between China and the United States. On March 14, newly elected Chinese President Xi Jinping held telephone talks with Obama, with cyber security among their topics. During U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew's trip to China on March 19-20, the issue was also on his agenda.

Cyber security cooperation between the two countries is already underway. Much progress has been made in combating online money laundering and pornography, countering e-mail spam and sharing antiterrorist information.

Moreover, the issue was included in the Sino-U.S. Strategic Security Dialogue launched in 2011. Representatives from cyber security management departments of both sides, including their militaries, took part in the dialogue. The platform has the potential to create a new cooperation mechanism on cyber security between the two countries. On the platform, the United States is particularly concerned with whether or not China has a cyber security strategy and a cyber army. It has repeatedly asked China to reveal the nature of its mechanisms for safeguarding cyber security.

The Chinese Government has not officially released a systematic cyber security policy, and the Chinese military has on many occasions denied the existence of a cyber army. Because the Internet involves many issues, it is estimated that at least 16 government agencies share the responsibility of Internet management and cyber security protection in China.

However, there are viewpoints in Chinese academic circles and media that China has every reason to build a cyber army. They claim that every country has its own cyber space and cyber security relates to national security as well as people's livelihood. Thus, China surely needs to safeguard the security of its national information system.

There is still not a universal norm for managing the cyber world. There remain disputes worldwide on questions like whether there is Internet sovereignty, where the boundary of cyber sovereignty is, and how to make rules for the cyber domain. There are even disputes over these questions within China. However, the pace of change brought on by the Internet leaves little time for consensus building.

A recent editorial from China's Global Times newspaper said China has no intention to challenge the United States in cyber security, and it is the common aspiration of Chinese people to live in peace with the United States. It added that China should never intend to do harm to others, but should always guard against the harm others might do to itself.

The author is an op-ed contributor to Beijing Review

Email us at: yanwei@bjreview.com