Obama draws distinction between China's purported hacking and 'standard fare' spying

June 18, 2013 at 3:05AM

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is drawing a distinction between China's alleged intellectual property theft and what he calls "standard fare" spying on other countries.

Obama says every country engages in intelligence gathering, which he called an occasional source of tension. But the president says there's a big difference between China trying to find out what he's saying in meetings with the Japanese and a hacker connected with the Chinese government breaking into Apple or other U.S. companies.

Obama pressed China's president on cyberhacking last week during a meeting in California. Obama said their conversations on the topic were "very blunt."

Obama spoke in an interview with PBS' Charlie Rose.

about the writer

about the writer

More from No Section

See More
FILE -- A rent deposit slot at an apartment complex in Tucker, Ga., on July 21, 2020. As an eviction crisis has seemed increasingly likely this summer, everyone in the housing market has made the same plea to Washington: Send money — lots of it — that would keep renters in their homes and landlords afloat. (Melissa Golden/The New York Times) ORG XMIT: XNYT58
Melissa Golden/The New York Times

It’s too soon to tell how much the immigration crackdown is to blame.