China’s Self-Destructive Tech Crackdown
Under
the guise of improving security, the Chinese government is clamping
down on technology companies and further limiting the access its
citizens have to information that is not sanitized by the Communist
Party. These moves will hurt the Chinese economy and create a major rift
between China and the rest of the world.
The
government of President Xi Jinping has taken a series of steps recently
that have unnerved businesses, human rights organizations and
governments around the world. This week, for example, American and other
foreign business groups sent a letter to
Mr. Xi protesting new policies that require companies that sell
computer equipment to Chinese banks to turn over their source code to
the government and to create ways for security officials to monitor and
control those devices. Industry executives expect similar policies to be
enacted for other sectors of the Chinese economy, making it
increasingly difficult, if not impossible, for foreign technology
vendors to sell their products to Chinese customers.
Chinese officials have also proposed a law,
purportedly to fight terrorism, that would require technology companies
to provide the government with the means to monitor all communications
over their systems in China, including those that are encrypted. And in
recent weeks, the authorities have made it nearly impossible for
Internet users to employ virtual private networks that
allow people to evade the government filters and restrictions
collectively known as the Great Firewall. Dissidents, researchers,
businesses and professionals have long used V.P.N.s to access
information beyond China’s borders, and the government previously seemed
to tolerate the practice.
With
these new moves, Chinese leaders are trying to increase government
control over communications in order to suppress dissent. And they are
trying to promote Chinese technology businesses at the expense of
foreign companies. That is not entirely surprising. Mr. Xi has
previously made clear that he considers the free flow of information on
the Internet a threat to the Communist Party. And he has said that
he considers domestic control over technology a matter of “national
economic security, defense security and other aspects of security.”
But
this push for greater control could cost China dearly. The country’s
businesses and professionals say it has become increasingly difficult
for them to communicate with customers and suppliers abroad or to obtain
scientific data and research from the rest of the world. Executives at
Chinese banks are reportedly worried that they will have to rely on
substandard domestic computer equipment that could make their systems
more vulnerable to hacking by criminals, foreign rivals and others.
Foreign
businesses and governments are rightly saying these new policies amount
to protectionism. The changes also seem to make a joke of China’s
commitment to abide by global trading rules established by the World
Trade Organization and of its stated desire to deepen trade and
investment ties with the United States and other countries. Officials
from China and the United States are negotiating abilateral investment treaty that
is supposed to make it easier for companies from each country to do
business in the other nation. American officials should use those talks
to put China on notice that its latest security policies are wrongheaded
and unacceptable.
Mr.
Xi cannot expect the United States or any other country to engage in
negotiations to liberalize trade and investment with his country while
his government is actively making it impossible for foreign businesses
to survive there.
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