By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-01-13 19:31:28 | Updated at 2025-01-14 12:30:29
17 hours ago
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said China would face severe consequences if it launches a cyberattack that causes physical destruction in the US, and deterring such a move should be a priority for the incoming Trump administration.
Sullivan said the US has evidence that China is pre-positioning for just such an attack at some point in the future, underscoring past concerns from US officials. He spoke in an interview at the Bloomberg News bureau in Washington on Monday.
“We’ve sent a clear message to China’s leaders that if they did that – if they actually took a physically destructive cyberattack in the United States – that there would be severe consequences,” Sullivan said.
“We’re going to have to continue to deter China from doing that because we have seen them setting up or positioning to be able to do that in the future. That’s something the new team will have to continue to work on internally.”
Before that, US officials had blamed a series of other espionage campaigns on China, including one targeting US telecommunications companies.
