From the NYT article: "The data, if independently verified, could help Chinese officials figure out which computers have been hacked, patch security holes, itemize compromised data, analyze the quality of computer security defenses and develop techniques for hardening other Chinese computers against future surveillance by the N.S.A."

So he is offering aid to the Chinese government in the form of top secret US data. I understand the need to have whistle blowers and respect that some things need light shined on them. However, I draw the line at specifically assisting foreign governments who are often hostile to democracy and the West. If the reverse happened and a Chinese security contractor fled to the U.S. with state secrets I would be less worried but I do think that person would be a traitor to China.

I've been listening to the book Spycraft, and if there's one theme that keeps recurring, it's that things never end well for the agent informing against his country.

The handlers often turn the guy over once he's outlived his usefulness to his homeland, or eventually he gets gotten.

Snowden's play here seems to be that he assumes the U.S. is going to lock him up for life or worse, so he's throwing his lot in with China and showing up with, "Hey, here you go! Loads of free stuff!"

But he apparently doesn't know much about the Chinese, or the history of turncoats and how these things usually play out.

Nobody trusts a traitor, not even if he showed up with plentiful offerings. It's like having a gal cheat on her husband with you, then tell you she wants to divorce him and marry you. No chance of her doing the same thing to you now, right?

Isn't that sidestepping the morality of hacking foreign civilian infrastructure? I appreciate that national security is important, but should a nation state be permitted to break into whatever it wants without consequence?

I agree.