China's Views of Sovereignty and Methods of Access Control

At today's hearing, we will be exploring the concepts of sovereignty that are advanced by the Chinese government. In some circumstances, these concepts are at odds with interpretations of international law as understood by the United States and they also play a role in conflicting territorial claims between China and some its neighbors in Asia. Furthermore, the continuing advances in outer space exploration and use and in use of cyberspace raise questions regarding how sovereignty is defined in these critical realms of economic and information exchange and what are the rights of lawful international access. We hope that this hearing will add to the public dialogue on these issues, which I am confident will assume ever greater importance in the months and years ahead.