Obama Must Hit China With Sanctions Over Giant Data Hack - Senator

The US government must impose economic sanctions on China at this week’s inter-government meeting in retaliation for China’s alleged role in the giant data hack of federal employees, Senator Marco Rubio said in a letter to President Barack Obama on Monday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — On June 4, 2015, the US Office of Personnel Management announced that it had discovered a massive cybersecurity breach in April that compromised the personal data of nearly every current and many former US federal employees.

“Immediately impose financial sanctions and pursue criminal charges against individual hackers implicated in the historic breach of US government networks once they are identified.”

Media has quoted US officials suspecting China as being behind the four-month long cyber-operation, but the Obama administration has not blamed China for the hack.

From Monday through Wednesday, Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of the Treasury Jacob Lew will meet with Chinese co-chairs, State Councilor Yang Jiechi and Vice Premier Wang Yang.

Rubio said that Lew should immediately tell his Chinese counterpart the United States will impose sanctions against any Chinese government agencies or commercial enterprise found to have hacked into US federal workers’ data.

Rubio demanded that Obama impose real world consequences on China for its actions around the world and demanded Beijing take steps to reduce tensions in the South China Sea region.