Obama prepared to impose financial sanctions on China for alleged hacking

The Obama administration reiterated that financial sanctions against China were “on the table” over alleged cyber-attacks on Thursday as President Xi Jinping of China arrived in Washington for the first time.

Obama, who will dine with Xi on Thursday night, is expected to address hacking concerns, notably the disastrous breach of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which exposed the personal information (including psychiatric evaluations and background checks) of some 21.5 million current, former and prospective federal workers.

In answer to a question about Chinese hacking at Thursday’s White House press briefing, the presidential press secretary, Josh Earnest, said Obama was prepared to respond to large-scale cybercrime with economic punishment. “I will just say that we have made clear our concerns about China’s activity in cyberspace,” Earnest said. “There are a range of tools that are at the president’s disposal to respond to those concerns. We do believe that having those tools on the table, including possible financial sanctions, have been effective as a deterrent and in advancing our interest in that regard.”