The U.S. needs to push back hard against the Chinese to get them to stop hacking into U.S. computers, according to a leading foreign policy expert.
In a new "Office Politics" interview with msnbc's Alex Witt, Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, said someone with authority in China is backing the attacks. He added, "They're spying on Americans clearly for reasons of commercial gain. It's not unique. For years China has, in a delicate phrase, been ripping off American companies. Intellectual property theft is something that has been quite frequent about all the films, all the pirating, you think about all the illegal reproductions. This is nothing new. This is just a newer technology."
The comments came after an internet security firm last month accused the Chinese military of supporting cyber attacks into perhaps thousands of U.S. businesses.
When asked how much China's economic investment in our country complicates matters, Haass said China needs to continue to have access to the American market. He added that because they need our technology, the Chinese are deterred from going too far and that they need to know that if the hacking continues, they will pay extraordinary prices.