New, controversial Chinese regulations have arisen as the tech war continues between China and Silicon Valley. Chinese suspicions of online espionage have been the main driver in supporting heavier regulations of foreign tech companies. The new rules, which will be set forth in a few weeks’ time, will require American firms to “submit to invasive audits and create back doors into hardware and software.”
While the Chinese government makes the argument that these regulations are a matter of national security, many speculate that China’s main concern is protectionism. International trade experts assert that China only wishes to advance its own companies and to diminish foreign competition. There are also new rules being drafted that may end up requiring American tech firms to surrender their encryption keys to the Chinese government.
It will be interesting to see how the Obama Administration plans to fight these harsh regulations set forth by China. American tech industry executives have agreed that it is time “to get tough with Beijing.” The battle lines have been drawn, and the pressure is on.
Sources
Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/28/technology/in-china-suspicions-cloud-trade-dispute-involving-tech-companies.html?_r=0
Picture: http://www.china-mike.com/facts-about-china/facts-technology-internet-media/
This is an interesting way for the Chinese to attack the foreign tech companies. It makes me wonder how this will affect the American tech business’s investments and associations with Chinese companies. Will this eventually cause a split where Chinese companies end up only using Chinese tech and the American companies decide not to even deal with the regulations. A potential split might grow where they will constantly race each other for the the upper hand.
Be careful of using the term “war” – it suggests more of a policy direction and active role for government than likely exists.
Furthermore, don’t consumers (Apple and so on) face monopolistic suppliers in many areas of electronics? Even Apple uses Intel chips in its computers. We should be careful about blithely assuming that the Chinese government that is the main player, and not just a proxy for others. (Apple’s longstanding lawsuit against Samsung was about who would control the software in smart phones — Samsung was never a player there — and not about infringing on a copyrighted design by having rounded corners on a rectangular object.)