TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — China has plans to launch its own set of global data security standards in an effort to counter U.S.-led efforts to persuade countries to block their networks from Chinese technology, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Dubbed the “Global Initiative on Data Security,” Beijing will call on countries to handle data security in a “comprehensive, objective, and evidence-based manner” and keep an open, secure, and stable supply chain for information and communications technology and services, according to a draft reviewed by the Wall Street Journal.
The initiative, which is in line with China’s concept of “cyber sovereignty,” urges governments to respect other countries’ sovereignty in how they handle data, giving countries total control over the information and content in their respective cyberspaces, the report said the Chinese initiative also calls on countries to oppose “mass surveillance against other states” and orders tech firms not to install “backdoors in their products and services to illegally obtain users’ data, control or manipulate users’ systems and devices.”
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (王毅) is scheduled to announce the initiative on Tuesday (Sept. 8) at a seminar in Beijing on global digital governance, the Wall Street Journal reported. Chinese diplomats have talked with a number of foreign governments about this plan.
China’s move comes amid heightened tensions with the U.S. over trade and technology. Last month, Washington rolled out its “Clean Network” initiative which looks to ban Chinese tech firms perceived as national security threats.
