China’s New Anti-Terror Law Is Cyber Nightmare for American Tech Companies

On January 1, 2016, China’s new comprehensive anti-terrorism bill went into effect. The bill was guided by President Xi Jingping’s overall outlook for the nation’s national security. The law’s main purpose was to create a statutory basis for China’s future anti-terrorism activities.  Critics are skeptical as the law really seems more to control the people rather than curbing domestic and international terrorism. The law is really represents the monitoring of information technology through strict surveillance guidelines.

Preliminary versions asked companies to turn over encryption codes, and other sensitive data for official vetting by the state before going into use. China’s new law has explicitly stated that information technology companies will assist police and security forces with decryption and technical support. China claims that this was a compromise they made from previous draft versions of the anti-terrorism law.

Li Shouwei, deputy head under the criminal law division under the legislative affair committee, noted “China was simply doing what other western countries do in asking technology firms to help fight terror.”

The law pertaining to information technology firms will impact foreign businesses set up in China like Cisco, IBM and Apple, all of which have big stakes in China.  Li Shouwei insists that the anti-terrorism law is legal, and that tech companies will have nothing to fear in terms of “backdoors” or losing intellectual property rights.

Prior to the passage of the Anti-Terrorism Law, China had passed a National Security Law, which was described as a means to improve the Chinese internet. Under new national security regulations all information technology would be “secure and controllable.”

The Chinese anti-terror law is, according to Chinese officials, a response to recent acts of terror in the Xinjiang province. From the Chinese point of view, the law is necessary to secure the security of its citizens, and prevent any form of social instability that may pose a threat to the economy or to the political party.

In reality, China wants to end reliance on U.S. tech firms by 2020 as part of its economic reform.  In 2014, Chinese officials, denounced a number of U.S. based companies that were secretly working with National Security Administration (NSA). For China, the means to eliminate foreign technology and replace it with domestic software is the perfect combination of national security interests and economic goals.

The Chinese are taking advantage of the U.S. by using American technology to create their own cyber network. The United States uses information technology to fight against terrorism, In contrast, the Chinese are using terrorism as a means to  spy on Americans and the rest of the world. The anti-terror law has little to do with physical threats to the Chinese people, and more to do with extracting and disseminating vital information.

Chinese officials say those who oppose the law are guilty of hypocrisy, noting the Huawei deal, and Americans a double standard on terrorism. The Chinese have used this anti-terrorism law as means to extend their overbearing powers on domestic and international relations. China will very easily find itself in more conflicts both domestically and internationally due to this law, but it’s a risk they are willing to take to remain a global superpower.