I don’t believe it’s justifiable for China to hack different businesses solely to gain a competitive advantage. One immediate problem is that if China were to hack a business that causes a ripple effect of problems, it could be seen as a major attack on a country. Furthermore, if it were considered an attack by the United States with that same sentiment, that could even lead to war.

Another reason could be that even if a specific business may be captivating, the attempt to hack specific businesses may not be worth it if sufficient security practices exist. While China has only continued to quickly grow in its cyber espionage potential in the past few years, a possibility to come from these operations is that a company may be a great target, but also a costly one that, in the end, would not be worthwhile for the information gained.

However, a prominent fact about China is that it is known for being one of the most powerful countries in the world, which can be proven through its economy and partnerships. Yet, this, in turn, presents little support for continuing with cyber espionage and harmful cyber operations if the power that China already has makes it nearly pointless.

To add to this, I believe that the United States should have done significantly more to respond to the hacks from China. This could take the form of making a response to China’s cyber espionage activities, saying that the United States knows what’s happening and intends to take great steps to mitigate and cut out this issue.

Another measure would be to invest in cybersecurity for businesses that are a part of critical infrastructure first and then spread that money across businesses country-wide to create a general improvement for businesses in the United States.

In conclusion, there is little reason for China to continue with cyber espionage for an advantage to Chinese companies due to the potential escalation it can lead to, unrewarding investment, and an attempt to gain power illegally when the country is a known superpower that could generate that power naturally over time. The United States also needs to put more effort into a response to these hacks by calling out China on its actions and taking a stand to mitigate what has been done and what could be done in the future.