China approves controversial cybersecurity law despite opposition from overseas businesses

midian182

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China already has some of the strictest online censorship policies in the world, but the country has just passed a new cybersecurity law that will see its control over the internet tighten even further.

Authorities say the law, which is set to come into effect in June next year, has been brought in to tackle growing threats such as terrorism and hacking, as well as preventing activity aimed at “overthrowing the socialist system.”

The regulation would mean that internet companies, including instant messaging services, will have to collect users’ real names and details. “Critical information infrastructure operators,” meanwhile, must store their data on servers located within China’s borders. They will also be subjected to regular government reviews and be required to provide “technical support” to security agencies.

International firms have expressed concerns that the new law will mean China could force them to implement back doors or other vulnerabilities into their products. It also has implications for China’s already shaky stance on human rights.

“Despite widespread international concern from corporations and rights advocates for more than a year, Chinese authorities pressed ahead with this restrictive law without making meaningful changes,” said Sophie Richardson, China director of Human Rights Watch, in a statement.

The law also prohibits the posting of certain online content. Not only will users face jail for criticizing the government, but they will also be restricted from “fabricating or spreading false information to disturb economic order,” and “incit[ing] separatism or damag[ing] national unity.”

A coalition of business groups wrote to the Chinese government last August to protest the new law. The letter stated that the requirements "would weaken technical security measures and expose systems and citizens' personal information to malicious actors," something the country’s authorities deny.

China already blocks services such as Facebook and Twitter. Once the new law comes into effect, the country will have even greater control over what its citizens read and post online.

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Great, there's nothing like good old Chinese democracy, my way or no way. Anyway that's their problem.

Except it's not just their problem...

Title:
China approves controversial cybersecurity law despite opposition from OVERSEAS businesses

"INTERNATIONAL FIRMS have expressed concerns that the new law will mean China COULD FORCE them to implement back doors or other vulnerabilities into THEIR PRODUCTS."
 
While not easy, the Chinese internet access could be isolated. We have seen far too many American businesses ruined by cheap Chinese imitations that flood the market and our Congress is too interested in their own end fighting to heavily tariff Chinese goods to the point they are dealing on a 1:1 basis in our markets.

Sadly, much of this has developed, grown and spread during the current administration where diplomacy has taken center stage when a Teddy Roosevelt approach would have been much more effective. Too many countries see the American approach as a sign of weakness and until you offer them some clear, concise examples of American strength, it will continue. Certainly doesn't require a nuclear response, but heavy sanctions with well advertised explanations to their populations. Once a population overcomes it's fear and chooses to deal directly with their government, there is no survival for the present leadership.

Over the past several decades we have put non-diplomats in the role of Secretary of State, leaving a vacuum of knowledge & experience. The Administration also tends to get rid of those Generals that don't support their point of view rather than consider opposing arguments. These and other actions further diminish the power and decisiveness of the Executive Branch and like any corporate CEO that surrounds himself with "yes" men, sooner or later the corporation will fail.
 
You guys do realize they don't have a Democracy but instead they have Communism...right?? you guys do know that.
 
Is China on the brink of becoming another N.Korea like state? Just wondering *nerd*
It's complicated, but...Japan ruled Korea until the end of WWII. The Soviet Union 'liberated' Korea from the north down to the 38th parallel, the USA the south. Due to the Cold War, that remained a sort of border. In 1950 North Korea attacked South Korea. The UN responded with a multinational force, about 85% from USA. The Soviet Union and China supported North Korea. The UN forces had advanced almost to the north end of the Korean peninsula which would have unified Korea and ended the war, but the Chinese attacked the UN with 'human wave' attacks pushing them back to the 38th parallel in 1953, where they are today. North and South Korea are still at war.
China is the major trading partner of North Korea and this likely is a major factor in keeping this state in existence.
Why 'we' ever did business with China is totally incomprehensible to me. There is an argument that by engaging in trade they would see the benefits of capitalism and move towards a Western style government, but in actuality all they did was take all they could get while keeping 100% of their government/state control intact.
It reminds me of the old joke the Soviets had that the West would sell them the rope which they would then use to hang us.
 
The sad part is, the citizens want to take a more western approach to government so it seems but the government is literally making that impossible by imposing restrictions. This will only hurt businesses overseas and as the cyber security cold war continues you can expect to see more countries move away from US based companies I.g. Microsoft, Palo Alto, etc.
 
Is China on the brink of becoming another N.Korea like state? Just wondering *nerd*
It's complicated, but...Japan ruled Korea until the end of WWII. The Soviet Union 'liberated' Korea from the north down to the 38th parallel, the USA the south. Due to the Cold War, that remained a sort of border. In 1950 North Korea attacked South Korea. The UN responded with a multinational force, about 85% from USA. The Soviet Union and China supported North Korea. The UN forces had advanced almost to the north end of the Korean peninsula which would have unified Korea and ended the war, but the Chinese attacked the UN with 'human wave' attacks pushing them back to the 38th parallel in 1953, where they are today. North and South Korea are still at war.
China is the major trading partner of North Korea and this likely is a major factor in keeping this state in existence.
Why 'we' ever did business with China is totally incomprehensible to me. There is an argument that by engaging in trade they would see the benefits of capitalism and move towards a Western style government, but in actuality all they did was take all they could get while keeping 100% of their government/state control intact.
It reminds me of the old joke the Soviets had that the West would sell them the rope which they would then use to hang us.

We were hoping that by introducing capitalism, the communism would be beaten back. That only worked to a short degree, because the population felt no great need to change their govt.

It also wasn't so much as "sell" them the rope, as we "leased" it to them. The U.S. National Debt owned by China is in USD, as is the rest of the trade we do with them. This means we can walk away from it. We would take a massive credit hit as a country, but we would survive. China would watch their market collapse, on the other hand. They are producing far too much, at far too cheap of prices to avoid anything short of another great depression. The rest of the world would keep buying from them, but at much lower rates than today.

The main reason this hasn't happened is that it would still be ugly in the U.S., and walking away isn't the better option yet (and may never be).
 
FWIW there are actually two China's. The totalitarian, communist government that has pressured the rest of the world into calling them China is the People's Republic of China (PRC). This is the same government has pressured the rest of the world into calling the democratic, capitalistic China, the Republic of China (ROC) Taiwan, after the name of the island.
 
US #1 trading partner. Most favored nation designation is trade agreement. China is a closed communist society - lest we forget the past...
 
Except it's not just their problem...

Title:
China approves controversial cybersecurity law despite opposition from OVERSEAS businesses

"INTERNATIONAL FIRMS have expressed concerns that the new law will mean China COULD FORCE them to implement back doors or other vulnerabilities into THEIR PRODUCTS."
Well as long as it doesn't affect me personally I couldn't care less.
 
Not even close lol. NK is way diff from China. China is very modern in fact.
With the industrial pollution it creates, and its suppression of human rights, (it's still a Communist government), it's probably more fair to say, "China is very modern in the places and behaviors it allows the outside world to see".

China is technologically advanced. It got that way in large part, by building, stealing, and copying the rest of the world's technological advances. But as they say, "oh well, them's the breaks". The rest of the world expects to enjoy the benefits of cheap labor in China, but sometimes we forget that China doesn't really subscribe to such niceties as the "DMCA", and obviously other instances where intellectual property is stolen.

If we go back a couple of decades, the only truly "modern city" in China was Hong Kong. But, it was not thus by Chinese effort and virtue. It was because Hong Kong was leased to England for 100 years. When the lease ran out, the Chinese government rushed in and began taking credit, as it began using it as a show piece for the west.

If we go back a few more decades,. China was under the thumb of Japan, a country 1/100th its size. The 2nd world war, with the participation of the US, eliminated that situation.

And then there's the issue of Taiwan . China likes to claim its their property. The Taiwanese feel much differently of course, but that doesn't stop China from claiming what should be Taiwan's exclusive share of the glory.
 
With the industrial pollution it creates, and its suppression of human rights, (it's still a Communist government), it's probably more fair to say, "China is very modern in the places and behaviors it allows the outside world to see".

China is technologically advanced. It got that way in large part, by building, stealing, and copying the rest of the world's technological advances. But as they say, "oh well, them's the breaks". The rest of the world expects to enjoy the benefits of cheap labor in China, but sometimes we forget that China doesn't really subscribe to such niceties as the "DMCA", and obviously other instances where intellectual property is stolen.

If we go back a couple of decades, the only truly "modern city" in China was Hong Kong. But, it was not thus by Chinese effort and virtue. It was because Hong Kong was leased to England for 100 years. When the lease ran out, the Chinese government rushed in and began taking credit, as it began using it as a show piece for the west.

If we go back a few more decades,. China was under the thumb of Japan, a country 1/100th its size. The 2nd world war, with the participation of the US, eliminated that situation.

And then there's the issue of Taiwan . China likes to claim its their property. The Taiwanese feel much differently of course, but that doesn't stop China from claiming what should be Taiwan's exclusive share of the glory.
Eh, more hypocrisy please.

1 - It pollutes a lot, but the Us isnt far behind. But it's more progressive for stopping climate change than the us is, by far. So it's temporary.
2 - The us violates human rights continually, so don't complain. Also it's not Communist. It's still a very free country in fact, which you might know if you went there.
3 - It's generally modern, although of course you're right in the sense that some pockets like Shanghai are especially more modern than most other places. It's not about allowing anyone to see. You can go there now easily.
4 - Nothing wrong with copying. The DMCA isn't a nicety, it's a horrible piece of legislature, which among other things, helps justify online censorship and surveillance everywhere. Especially in the West.
5 - Using HK as an example is just lame and doesn't say anything beyond the fact that the West was part of the reason why China was impoverished and weakened and thus lost HK to begin with. So shooting yourself in the foot there.
6 - Japan had a lot of countries subjugated. What's your point? It's not even relevant. Not when China was still undergoing the "century of humiliation", which among others, the US helped instigate in the first place. See point 5 about shooting yourself.
7 - Taiwan is indeed theirs and is none of your business. Until you understand the real dynamics of their relationship, don't comment. They're perfectly fine with the status quo as is right now - which the US is funny enough, the one who's upsetting, by contacting Taiwan.


And thus it's still extremely different from NK.
 
@Kunming thanks for replying with all the anticipated bullsh!t one might expect from someone with a screen name drawn from a city in China.

How about if we say, "Taiwan doesn't want to belong to China". It's sort of like a divorce, but between countries, and screw China;s claims to it.

According to you, all the ills in the world, including China's, are the fault of the US. China's principal problems, trace directly back to Mao Tse Tung. Let's leave it at that.
 
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@Kunming thanks for replying with all the anticipated bullsh!t one might expect from someone with a screen name drawn from a city in China.

How about if we say, "Taiwan doesn't want to belong to China". It's sort of like a divorce, but between countries, and screw China;s claims to it.

According to you, all the ills in the world, including China's, are the fault of the US. China's principal problems, trace directly back to Mao Tse Tung. Let's leave it at that.
Says the guy who spouted the common hypocrisy that americans spout :p

Its so strange you even care about taiwan, like, wtf? It doesnt concern you.

According to me, a large portion of the ills come from the US, which is easily proveable given the unmentionable us terrorism carried out, which the official media arent allowed to mention.

China is doing fine and is progressing nicely(also doing better than the us in many areas). It just needs to avoid a war with the us and it's a win.
 
And now I'm going to work on your blood pressure problem. (It's way too low).

Says the guy who spouted the common hypocrisy that americans spout :p

Its so strange you even care about taiwan, like, wtf? It doesnt concern you.
It's even stranger that you have so much to say about the US, which apparently shouldn't concern you . Not to mention your deep seated hatred of the US. What's the matter, do we have too much freedom, too much money, what?

You always sound like you've had a full ride scholarship to a radical Islamic one of these: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madrasa

EDIT: BTW, don't think it's gone unnoticed that everytime you dan't have a plausible answer for something, the other person is always "spouting hypocrisy"! Anything you don't happen to agree with is also labeled "hypocrisy".

Oh Kunming, you know everything about everything. My Hero.....er not..
 
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And now I'm going to work on your blood pressure problem. (It's way too low).

It's even stranger that you have so much to say about the US, which apparently shouldn't concern you . Not to mention your deep seated hatred of the US. What's the matter, do we have too much freedom, too much money, what?

You always sound like you've had a full ride scholarship to a radical Islamic one of these: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madrasa

EDIT: BTW, don't think it's gone unnoticed that everytime you dan't have a plausible answer for something, the other person is always "spouting hypocrisy"! Anything you don't happen to agree with is also labeled "hypocrisy".

Oh Kunming, you know everything about everything. My Hero.....er not..
Well since I know everything, then you can stay out of it, since you fundamentally don't know anything about China :).

Also, it is hypocrisy when someone like yourself would accuse another country of things which your own country - the us right? - willfully does every single day lol. It has nothing to do with radical islamic anything and everything to do with your avoidance of any semblance of a balanced argument. I don't like terrorists - thus why should I like the us? It's pretty simple. "Too much freedom", LOL. Well I give you an A+ for sarcasm on that one.
 
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