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Economic sanctions are an additional "tool in the toolbox" to address the challenge of overseas cyber-attacks, the US has said amid reports that it was considering sanctions on Chinese firms and individuals involved in cyber-economic espionage.
"The only reason the President's policy team could potentially consider sanctions against those who have committed acts of cyber theft against the US or US institutions, or benefitted from cyber theft, is because the (US) President signed an executive order earlier this year giving the Secretary of the Treasury the authority to use sanctions in that way," said Josh Earnest, White House Press Secretary.
"This means that the United States government has an additional tool in the toolbox to confront this particular challenge," Earnest said.
He was responding to question about news reports that the Obama Administration was considering economic sanctions against China who were allegedly responsible for cyber-attacks and cyber theft in the US.
"When talking about economic sanctions, I've often noted that it would be strategically unwise for us to discuss potential sanctions targets because that would only give the potential targets of sanctions the opportunity to take steps that would allow them to evade those sanctions," he said.
"So it's not uncommon for me to observe that I don't have a lot to say about the decision-making process that goes into applying economic sanctions," Earnest said, adding that he would not want to speculate on any "potential actions" or any potential deliberations.
He said adding US President Barack Obama had been consistently raising this issue with the Chinese leadership including his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and has described this as an issue of significant concern.
"So the point is that it is no secret to leaders in China that President Obama and other leaders in the US government have significant concerns with Chinese behavior in cyberspace. We've made that clear in high-level conversations with Chinese officials," Earnest said.
"I think it was pretty crystal clear in the Department of Justice announcement of the indictment of five Chinese military officials for their actions in cyberspace. So our concerns in this area are not a surprise to anyone, and certainly are not a surprise to anyone in the Chinese government," he added.
The US has sharp disagreements with China over its actions in cyber space, said State Department Spokesman Mark Toner.
"We have been pretty clear and consistent about addressing these disagreements with the Chinese," he said.
