China’s Engagement in Cyberspace

Date01 August 2016
Published date01 August 2016
AuthorFrancis C. Domingo
DOI10.1177/2347797016645456
Subject MatterReview Essay
China’s Engagement
in Cyberspace
Francis C. Domingo1,2
William C. Hannas, James Mulvenon and Anna B. Puglisi. 2013. Chinese Industrial Espionage:
Technology Acquisition and Military Modernization. New York, USA: Routledge. 302 pp.
ISBN 978-041-582-1421.
Greg Austin. 2014. Cyber Policy in China. Cambridge & Malden, MA: Polity Press. 232 pp.
ISBN: 978-0-7456-6979-3.
Jon R. Lindsay, Tai Ming Cheung and Derek S. Reveron (Eds.). 2015. China and Cybersecurity:
Espionage, Strategy, and Politics in the Digital Domain. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
398 pp. ISBN: 9780190201265.
Introduction
The emergence of cyber-enabled technologies has profoundly influenced the inter-
actions between different actors in the international system. Networked computers
have allowed for transactions that are more efficient in global commerce, civil
society and government services but have also created unique challenges that affect
the national security of states. The dilemma of how to gain advantages from cyber-
space is more pronounced in the case of China, which has one of the fastest growing
Internet economies and a regional power with comprehensive military capabilities in
the cyber domain (Lindsay, 2015a, p. 1). Furthermore, the discourse on China and
cybersecurity has generally been confounded with different issues such as political
censorship, unfair competition and Internet governance that involve similar informa-
tion technologies but do not necessarily conform to the same dynamics and strategic
logic (Lindsay, 2015b, p. 7). Despite these nuances, concerns about China’s compe-
titive advantage in cyberspace as well as increasing fears about massive attacks
against digital infrastructures continue to aggravate the mistrust and confusion
between China and other powerful states in cyberspace (Brito & Watkins, 2011).
In this context, the three books reviewed in this essay offer different perspec-
tives regarding China’s engagement in cyberspace. Chinese Industrial Espionage
1 De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines.
2 University of Nottingham, United Kingdom.
Corresponding author:
Francis C. Domingo, De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines.
E-mail: francis.domingo@dlsu.edu.ph
Journal of Asian Security
and International Affairs
3(2) 245–259
2016 SAGE Publications India
Private Limited
SAGE Publications
sagepub.in/home.nav
DOI: 10.1177/2347797016645456
http://aia.sagepub.com
Review Essay

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