Chinese 'Hackers' Is a Misnomer. They're Spies.

In a speech on Monday at the Asia Society in New York, National Security Adviser Tom Donilon addressed Chinese cyber intrusions into U.S. government and business network infrastructures. In moving cybersecurity "to the forefront of our agenda," Mr. Donilon noted that he wasn't referring to "ordinary cybercrime or hacking." He called on Beijing to recognize the importance of cyber issues, take "serious steps" to investigate Chinese cyber intrusions, and engage in a "constructive dialogue" to define "acceptable norms of behavior in cyberspace."

To his credit, Mr. Donilon differentiates between hacking and China's threat in cyberspace—the software that controls the operation of networks linking computers in the governmental and private sphere. But in asking Beijing to investigate cyber intrusions, he is asking the government to investigate its own military's massive continuing cyberspying. While his speech reflects a desire to be diplomatic in public, it muddles the true nature of the threat and thus may confound U.S. efforts to respond.