Yellen: ‘I Believe’ I Didn’t Know About China Hacking During My Trip, Didn’t Raise it, We Want to ‘Increase’ Engagement

During an interview with Bloomberg on Monday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she believes she didn’t know about China hacking Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo during her visit to China, and the issue of the hack wasn’t brought up during her discussions. Yellen also stated that while she is concerned about hacking and the U.S. has expressed these concerns, “we intend to continue to deepen our discussions with China, to increase our engagement.”

Yellen stated, “I do have concerns about hacking of U.S. government officials or private individuals or companies. And I know the United States has expressed those concerns. But we intend to continue to deepen our discussions with China, to increase our engagement. It’s especially important to explain what our motivation is, to avoid misunderstandings that can lead to unnecessary and dangerous escalation. President Xi and President Biden agreed in Bali that senior officials, including those in economics, should interact more regularly. And I think an outcome of my trip there was that we will have deeper, ongoing engagement at all levels.”

She added, “I believe I did not know about that in Beijing. It wasn’t one of the things that we discussed.”

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