Senior officials from the US and China will meet in Washington this week for the latest round of their high-profile Strategic and Economic Dialogue. Following last month’s summit between President Barack Obama and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, there is much for both sides to discuss. The US wants the new Chinese leadership to take a tougher line over North Korea’s nuclear programme. Washington wants to make progress with Beijing on climate change, amid signs that the issue has moved up the Chinese agenda. But the most politically charged issue is whether the US can persuade China to scale back the huge amount of cyber espionage against US companies that it is accused of engaging in.

美中高级官员本周将齐聚华盛顿，参加两国最新一轮战略与经济对话(Strategic and Economic Dialogue)。在上月美国总统巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)和中国国家领导人习近平之间的峰会后，双方存在诸多有待讨论的问题。比如美国希望中国新领导层对朝鲜核计划采取更强硬的立场。美国政府也希望与中方在气候变化问题上取得进展，尤其是有迹象显示中国对气候问题的关注正在升级。但政治色彩最为强烈的问题，莫过于美国能否说服中国克制针对美国公司的大量所谓网络间谍活动。

At last month’s summit, President Obama took this issue right to the heart of the bilateral relationship. Given the growing concern of US business, he was right to do so. China vehemently rejects claims that it is stealing US and western commercial secrets. But the US is increasingly vocal in its allegations that this is now a significant threat to American competitiveness.

在上月峰会中，奥巴马总统将此事视为双边关系的核心问题。考虑到美国企业担忧日重，他这样做是对的。中国严词否认它试图窃取美国和西方商业秘密，但美国方面也提高了论调，称这一行为严重威胁到美国的竞争力。

This year, a 60-page report by Mandiant, a US computer security company, found that Unit 61398 of China’s People’s Liberation Army was directly responsible for attacks on US corporations. Tom Donilon, the former White House national security adviser, has complained that cyber attacks are “emanating from China on an unprecedented scale”. General Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Agency and commander of US Cyber Command, says cyber theft is bringing about “the greatest transfer of wealth in history”.

今年，美国计算机安全公司Mandiant在一份60页的报告中指出，中国人民解放军61398部队直接参与了对美国企业的攻击。前白宫国家安全顾问汤姆•多尼隆(Tom Donilon)抱怨道：“来自中国的网络攻击规模空前。”美国国家安全局(NSA)局长、美国网络司令部(US Cyber Command)司令基思•亚历山大将军(General Keith Alexander)表示，“网络偷窃”正引发“史上最大的一场财富转移”。

The problem for the US is that the revelations by Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor, have made it difficult to press home its case. Mr Snowden has revealed much about the way the NSA carries out internal surveillance in the US. But far more diplomatically damaging is the revelation that the US has been penetrating China’s government and military networks as well as its universities and research centres. This allows the Chinese media to argue that US criticism of Beijing over cyber espionage is hypocritical.

美国面对的问题是，前NSA合同工爱德华•斯诺登(Edward Snowden)的爆料令它难以义正词严地坚持自己的主张。斯诺登大量曝光了NSA在美国国内的监视行为，但从外交上来说，破坏性更强的，是关于美国持续入侵中国政府及军方网络、大学和研究中心的爆料。这让中国媒体得以评论称，美国在网络间谍一事上对中方的批评是虚伪的。

As a result of the storm over Mr Snowden, it will be much harder for the US to apply diplomatic pressure at this week’s Washington meetings. However, the issue cannot be consigned to the backburner. The US, like most states, does lots of spying in the field of national security, combating terrorism and monitoring the military movements of foreign states. But there is no evidence that the US government conducts espionage against foreign companies in order to benefit the competitiveness of its own companies. This is something in which the Chinese are accused of engaging. By doing so, the Chinese are changing the informal understanding of what the international spying game is about. They are also violating Beijing’s obligations as a member of the World Trade Organisation to respect the sanctity of intellectual property.

斯诺登风暴的后果是，美国在本周的华盛顿会议上将更难向中国施加外交压力。然而，问题不能就此搁置。与大多数国家一样，美国在国家安全、打击恐怖主义和监控外国军事动向方面开展了大量间谍活动。但没有证据表明美国政府对外国公司展开间谍活动，以增强本国公司的竞争力，而中国恰恰是在这一问题上受到指责。中国的行为改变了国际社会对间谍活动不成文的游戏规则，并且违反了中国作为世界贸易组织(WTO)成员国尊重知识产权的义务。

Because of the uproar over Mr Snowden’s revelations, the US will, for now, have to play along with the stalling tactics it expects the Chinese to use. But the administration must make clear this week that if there is no discernible retreat in cyber espionage by the Chinese in the second half of this year, the US will look to a much tougher response in 2014.

由于斯诺登爆料引起外界哗然，美国恐怕暂时只能配合中国看上去将会使用的“缓兵之计”。但美国政府本周必须明确表态，如果中国的网络间谍活动今年下半年无明显减少，美国将在2014年给出更加强硬的回应。

Congress is looking to legislate a range of sanctions against Chinese companies profiting from cyber espionage, including visa bans for accused hackers and a bar to the imports of products that are derived from cyber theft. It is in everyone’s interests that China pulls back from cyber espionage – and deters Congress from going down this route.

美国国会正在试图通过立法，制裁从网络间谍活动中获益的中国公司，比如禁止向被指控的黑客发放签证，以及禁止进口来源于“网络偷窃”的产品。中国如放弃网络间谍活动——并使美国国会不至于再追究下去——将符合所有人的利益。