Developing ICT key to securing cyberspace

China's national security authorities recently exposed three cyber espionage cases, in which some outside forces had launched cyberattacks to steal certain key national secrets. As such, China has no choice but to strengthen its cybersecurity.

As a latecomer to cyberspace, China lags behind developed countries in terms of cybersecurity. As for global cyberspace governance, China's goal is to safeguard its sovereignty and security, protect its development interests and to make greater contributions to global development.

Although the Chinese government introduced the internet to the country in 1994, Beijing began participating in global cyberspace governance only at the beginning of the 21st century, and made efforts through various platforms, such as regional organizations and the United Nations, to integrate with the global internet governance system. China's participation in global cyberspace governance is mainly reflected in the fields of technology, social public policy, economy and military.

In rule-making, China should have greater say

On the technology governance front, China should try to acquire a greater say in rule-making. To establish a sound internet governance system, we mainly need a standard protocol, and to properly manage the domain names and web addresses. But since China still does not have a say in the global cyberspace governance system commensurate with its national power and number of internet users, it is in a disadvantageous position when it comes to rulemaking.

However, thanks to China's strenuous efforts for more than a decade, combined with its rising national strength, its governments at different levels, and enterprises and communities have been playing energetic roles in cyber technology and getting beneficial results. This in turn has helped the Chinese government to play a more active role in making rules for global cyberspace governance.

As far as the global governance platform related to social public policies is concerned, China has realized its primary goal of enjoying more say on global governance platforms, and grasped the opportunities to promote its initiatives.

China's influence in global bodies rising

In the field of digital economy, the onus of making rules lies on intergovernmental organizations such as the World Trade Organization, G20, BRICS and APEC. In recent years, China has been paying greater attention to multilateral mechanisms, and has increased its influence in international and regional organizations.

On the cybersecurity issue, China has been proactively promoting cooperation through different bilateral and regional platforms. But it has to further widen its influence in the field of cybersecurity.

A country's security interests should be based on the external and internal environments, and it should devise its foreign strategy accordingly. But apart from these, China should also take into consideration the conditions in all other related fields, in order to build a comprehensive cybersecurity governance system.

Conflict of interests in cyberspace intensifying

With the world undergoing a transition and Sino-US competition continuing to influence global developments, the conflict of interests in cyberspace between China and Western countries is becoming increasingly complicated. True, China's influence in world affairs is increasing and e-commerce has given a new impetus to its economy, but due to certain disadvantages, China is not yet a cyberspace-secure country and its digital economy is facing problems.

The rise in China's comprehensive national strength has consolidated its position in the global arena, and increased its say in global cyberspace governance. As more and more Chinese internet and telecommunications technology (ICT) companies "go global", it is becoming increasingly important for China to safeguard their interests overseas. Which means China should provide more global public goods and take on greater international responsibilities.

The International Strategy of Cooperation on Cyberspace released in 2017 said China has six strategic goals for international cooperation: safeguarding sovereignty and security, developing a system of international rules, promoting fair internet governance, protecting legitimate rights and interests of citizens, promoting cooperation on the digital economy, and building a platform for cyber-culture exchange.

Important to develop core cybersecurity technology

China is committed to helping reform the global cyberspace governance system and establishing a fair and reasonable cyberspace order. China's cybersecurity goal is to safeguard its national interests, seek development interests and contribute more to the international community. In the non-traditional cybersecurity areas, China's aim is to neutralize the threats of cybercrime and terrorism so as to protect its military, infrastructure facilities and digital security, And to achieve all this, China has to develop its core cybersecurity technology.

Since the economy accounts for the largest proportion of China's national comprehensive strength and since its economy is transforming from export-dependent and quantity-driven growth to consumption and innovation-led qualitative development, the advancement of ICT has acquired added importance. Therefore, China needs to enhance international collaboration in cyberspace to propel the development of its ICT sector, and share with others the benefits of its "digital economy revolution".

China wants to proactively participate in global cyberspace governance for several reasons, including developing a system of international cyber rules, promoting fair internet governance, promoting cooperation on the digital economy, and building a platform for cyber-culture exchange. But its focus should be on strengthening its cybersecurity to safeguard its sovereignty and national security and other core interests.

Cyber technology and power is necessary for increasing a country's say in cyberspace. Although, China has substantially improved its national strength, its core cyber technology still lags behind the United States'.

Given that China and the US are locked in some disputes, cyberspace has become the main battleground for the two countries to compete in especially in the ICT sector. Therefore, it is imperative that China boosts its technological and innovation ability, so as to safeguard sovereignty and security, and achieve its strategic goal of becoming a cyber power.

The author is vice-director of the Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.