Hillary Clinton accuses China of ‘stealing US secrets’

Jake Carter Contributed byon July 5, 2015 at 12:21 pm

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton unleashed some of the strongest words to date about China’s hacking of USA computers.

James Clapper, the U.S. director of national intelligence, said last month that China was the “leading suspect” in a massive breach affecting personal data of millions of U.S. government employees.

“China’s military is growing very quickly, and they are establishing military installations that again threaten countries we have treaties with”, Clinton said on Saturday, referring to ongoing territorial disputes over islands in the South China Sea between China and USA allies such as the Philippines.

During a Fourth of July campaign organising event at a house party in Glen in northern New Hampshire yesterday, Clinton said she wanted to see China’s peaceful rise but that the United States needed to stay “fully vigilant”.

China is “trying to hack into everything that doesn’t move” in the United States, Clinton said, accusing the Chinese of stealing information from both businesses and government agencies. “Stealing business secrets and techniques … from protection contractors, stealing large quantities of authorities info, all in search of a bonus”, she stated.

Clinton also touched on Iran, which is thrashing out the fine details of a deal with world powers over its nuclear ambitions.

She said that even if a deal is reached with Iran, Tehran’s “aggressiveness will not end” and it will remain a principal state sponsor of terrorism.

“I’m hoping it’s a strong, verifiable deal that will put the lid on Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions”, Clinton said.

But she added that even with an agreement, “They will continue to be the principal state sponsor of terrorism”. They will proceed to destabilize governments within the area and past. “And they’ll proceed to be an existential menace to Israel”.

Clinton also said that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s moves to expand Russia’s boundaries, such as the annexation of Crimea, posed a challenge for the U.S.

She added on Putin: “I’ve dealt with him”. I know him. He’s not a simple man …

Clinton says she hopes Iran talks yield a deal | TODAYonline