China’s Xi calls for respect of all countries’ “cyberspace sovereignty”

BEIJING - While attending the just-concluded sixth BRICS summit in Brazil, Xi Jinping gave a 30-minute speech which stressed the importance of all countries’ cyberspace sovereignty, claiming that “there are no double standards in the information sector, and each country has the right to preserve its own information security”. His remarks come in the wake of recent allegations against the US of spying on multiple countries, including BRICS members China and Brazil.

Xi called for establishment of a joint international system of governance founded upon “multilateral co-operation, democracy and transparency” that would ensure a “peaceful, secure and open cyberspace”. Fellow BRICS members agreed that “it is necessary to preserve information and communications technologies, particularly the internet, as an instrument of peace and development -  and to prevent its use as a weapon”.