US, China disagree sharply over handling of Snowden case

WASHINGTON — Senior United States and Chinese officials have disagreed sharply over China’s handling of fugitive Edward Snowden, the former spy agency contractor accused of divulging US surveillance programme secrets, who was allowed to leave Hong Kong last month.

In remarks after high-level political and economic talks, the US said it was disappointed the Chinese authorities did not send Snowden, who was on the run in Hong Kong before he fled to Moscow, back to the US to face justice.

“We were disappointed with how the authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong handled the Snowden case, which undermined our effort to build the trust needed to manage difficult issues,” US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns said on Thursday.

“China’s handling of this case was not consistent with ... the new type of relationship that we both seek to build,’’ Mr Burns said, referring to the summit a month ago between President Barack Obama and China’s new President, Mr Xi Jinping, at a California resort.

Mr Obama also expressed disappointment about the Snowden case when he met two leaders of the Chinese delegation in the Oval Office on Thursday, a White House statement said.

China’s State Councillor Yang Jiechi said Hong Kong’s actions were in accordance with the law. “Its approach is beyond reproach,” he said about the decision to not detain Snowden.

The disagreement soured the two-day US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue meetings in Washington, where the world’s two largest economies announced plans to negotiate a bilateral investment treaty and more cooperation on combating climate change.

The talks opened just weeks after Snowden’s disclosure of extensive US electronic surveillance of American citizens and foreign countries, including China, which undercut years of complaints from Washington about Chinese hacking.

Mr Burns said the two powers “need to reach a shared understanding of the rules of the road” in cyber space and repeated US complaints about the cyber theft of intellectual property that most American experts blame on China.

Protection against cyber spying would presumably have to be part of any investment treaty, and could be a major sticking point.

“The reality is clear: The technological ties that bind us together also introduce a new challenge to our bilateral relationship,” said Mr Burns.

In a statement released yesterday about the talks, the Treasury Department said China had acknowledged US concerns about the cyber-enabled theft of trade secrets and confidential business information and vowed stronger enforcement. AGENCIES