> Someone tell me what use China has for "personal information" of Americans from the Office of Personnel Management.
> Seriously. What do the records contain and what is it to China? Wouldn't China be more interested in the "personal information" of their own peons?
From what I've read, these files can potentially contain very sensitive information. As part of the background check for some government positions, many dark secrets are unearthed and documented. Why? So that the government has a heads-up on how its employees may be compromised by foreign adversaries. So if the Chinese had such files on 20 million people, they would have a treasure trove of information to use as leverage against US citizens.
> Why the hell would the Chinese government give a flying fuck about a comedy about Kim Kong-Un?
They don't, and the article never implies that they did. "Admiral Rogers made clear in a public presentation to the meeting of the Aspen Security Forum last week that he had advised President Obama to strike back against North Korea for the earlier attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment. Since then, evidence that hackers associated with the Chinese government were responsible for the Office of Personnel Management theft has been gathered by personnel under Admiral Rogers’s command, officials said." The DPRK is associated with the Sony hack, and PRC with the OPM one.
> So assuming these people were working for the Chinese government, the US would have to extradite/kidnap them from China to get them convicted. How's that for "escalation"?
"Legal action" could be sanctions, warrants, etc. Why do you jump to kidnapping so suddenly? (Not that I would put it past this government...)
> In reality, this article is just Cold War 2.0 propaganda.
> Seriously. What do the records contain and what is it to China? Wouldn't China be more interested in the "personal information" of their own peons?
From what I've read, these files can potentially contain very sensitive information. As part of the background check for some government positions, many dark secrets are unearthed and documented. Why? So that the government has a heads-up on how its employees may be compromised by foreign adversaries. So if the Chinese had such files on 20 million people, they would have a treasure trove of information to use as leverage against US citizens.
> Why the hell would the Chinese government give a flying fuck about a comedy about Kim Kong-Un?
They don't, and the article never implies that they did. "Admiral Rogers made clear in a public presentation to the meeting of the Aspen Security Forum last week that he had advised President Obama to strike back against North Korea for the earlier attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment. Since then, evidence that hackers associated with the Chinese government were responsible for the Office of Personnel Management theft has been gathered by personnel under Admiral Rogers’s command, officials said." The DPRK is associated with the Sony hack, and PRC with the OPM one.
> So assuming these people were working for the Chinese government, the US would have to extradite/kidnap them from China to get them convicted. How's that for "escalation"?
"Legal action" could be sanctions, warrants, etc. Why do you jump to kidnapping so suddenly? (Not that I would put it past this government...)
> In reality, this article is just Cold War 2.0 propaganda.
Of course, it's in the NYT!