We have to recognize that all countries have to protect their cybersecurity, and so the issue is complicated and nuanced and requires a thoughtful approach.
— Penny Pritzker, U.S. Commerce Secretary, on the tension between China and the United States over technology. The Wall Street Journal reports, citing unnamed sources, that Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Monday urged U.S. officials to drop limits on tech exports or the country would look elsewhere, such as Russia.
As Pete Carey wrote here last week, the U.S. Department of Commerce blocked sales of U.S. technology to four Chinese computer centers, including a supercomputer project in China that Intel had supplied with microprocessor chips. The Commerce Department said it believed the supercomputer was being used in nuclear explosive activities. Pritzker, who is visiting Beijing, told reporters today that we have to remember why export controls exist, and it s really for our national security.
Meanwhile, U.S. and other foreign businesses have complained about a proposed Chinese antiterrorism law that would require tech companies to install backdoors in their software and turn over their encryption keys if they want to do business in China. And earlier this year, China dropped American tech companies such as Cisco, Apple, Intel and McAfee from its state-approved purchase lists, with experts speculating that China is concerned about security in the wake of reports of mass U.S. government spying.
Photo: U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker speaks at an event hosted by Microsoft in Beijing Tuesday, April 14, 2015. (Ng Han Guan/Associated Press)
