More guts required to face up to US surveillance

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More guts required to face up to US surveillance

(Global Times) 08:34, August 20, 2013

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Many Western media outlets are quoting a report released by Chinese media claiming that China is preparing to launch a security probe into IBM, Oracle and EMC, all leading IT companies in the US.

This investigation is widely believed to be related to US spy agencies' hacking activities in China's key network infrastructure through the Internet. It is also seen as China's response to the US government's opposition to Chinese IT companies, such as Huawei, entering the American market.

The scale of the probe, compared with that of similar ones initiated by the US against Chinese companies, has been much smaller.

Actually, China should show more concern over American IT companies because at the upstream of the technological chain, these companies are supposed to be more "threatening" than China's Huawei and Lenovo.

Edward Snowden, the former contractor for the National Security Agency and now a leaker, has listed at least nine American household companies that are involved in the US government's PRISM project.

But the problem is, even if there are security loopholes in these companies' products, China cannot stop using them because of its relatively disadvantaged position in technology. Furthermore, the current trade pattern between China and the US is such that it would be unable to bear the shock of a trade war.

What China should do is try its best to find out where the loopholes are and "plug" them. At the same time, China needs to accelerate its industrial upgrades, changing this disadvantaged situation.

It should be noted that a realistic attitude does not mean China needs to keep a low profile while countering US espionage. On the contrary, China needs to make its voice louder, and at least signal a warning to companies that may have ganged up with Washington in terms of surveillance programs.

We have always been much too lenient in comparison with the US in how it exaggerates the security "concerns" that Chinese companies pose. China's leniency has been mistakenly viewed as a willingness to accept anything international companies do in China.

Some Western media outlets claim that such a probe would worsen China's foreign investment environment. This kind of remark, by its very nature, is a subconscious response aimed at protecting Western companies' interests in China. However, the Snowden incident gives China unprecedented justification to launch such probes against American companies.

But it should be made clear that the consequences of network surveillance and spying should not be exaggerated, and the new relationship between China and the US cannot be obstructed by concrete conflicts.

China needs to take more active measures instead of lying low. It is high time that China boosts its own courage to face up to the infringements from surveillance programs.