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Europe Should Be Afraid of Huawei, EU Tech Official Says (reuters.com)
The European Union should be worried about Huawei and other Chinese technology companies because of the risk they pose to the bloc's industry and security, the EU's technology commissioner said on Friday. From a report: "Do we have to be worried about Huawei or other Chinese companies? Yes, I think we have to be worried about those companies," Andrus Ansip told a news conference in Brussels, days after a top executive at Chinese tech giant Huawei was arrested in Canada as part of an investigation into alleged bank fraud.
Huawei, which generated $93 billion in revenue last year and is seen as a national champion in China, faces intense scrutiny from many Western nations over its ties to the Chinese government, driven by concerns it could be used by Beijing for spying. Ansip said he was concerned because Chinese technology companies were required to cooperate with Chinese intelligence services, such as on "mandatory back doors" to allow access to encrypted data.
He also said those companies produce chips that could be used "to get our secrets." "As normal, ordinary people we have to be afraid," he said, adding he did not have enough information about the recent arrest in Canada.
Huawei, which generated $93 billion in revenue last year and is seen as a national champion in China, faces intense scrutiny from many Western nations over its ties to the Chinese government, driven by concerns it could be used by Beijing for spying. Ansip said he was concerned because Chinese technology companies were required to cooperate with Chinese intelligence services, such as on "mandatory back doors" to allow access to encrypted data.
He also said those companies produce chips that could be used "to get our secrets." "As normal, ordinary people we have to be afraid," he said, adding he did not have enough information about the recent arrest in Canada.
this could easily be rewritten
"Huawei, which generated $93 billion in revenue last year and is seen as a national champion in China, faces intense scrutiny from many Western nations over its ties to the Chinese government, driven by concerns it could be used by Beijing for spying. Ansip said he was concerned because Chinese technology companies were required to cooperate with Chinese intelligence services, such as on "mandatory back doors" to allow access to encrypted data. "
to
"Apple, which generated $233 billion in revenue last year and is seen as a national champion in US, faces intense scrutiny from many nations over its orders from the US government, driven by concerns it could be used for spying. Ansip said he was concerned because US technology companies were being forced in FISA courts to cooperate with FBI investigations, such as on "mandatory back doors" to allow access to encrypted data."
Calvin:Do you believe in the devil? Hobbes:I'm not sure man needs the help.
This story isn't really about "normal people", which typically refers to an average citizen. Those have nothing that Chinese intelligence would want. It's the same reason why we "normal people" are relatively safe against the likes of NSA too. We have nothing NSA wants.
It's the corporations that are engaged in competition with China, and state structures that need to be worried. They actually have things Chinese intelligence wants. But that doesn't sound as scary to the "normal people" unfortunately, because they often have trouble connecting "myself" to "my state" and "large corporations in my state that directly affect my livelihood".
But they aren't worried about hordes of "immigrant" dedicated to destroying their cultures and replacing it with a death cult?
Not sure whether to mod this "troll" or answer it as a serious question. Guess I'll take it seriously and reply anonymously.
If you actually paid attention to the news, and which parties are taking power in Europe, you would know that in fact Europe is very worried about immigrants, and what they will do to their culture. Your post is wrong from the very first words.
Why is "immigrant" in quotes, by the way?
In general, the immigrants that Europeans are worried about are refugees. They aren't "dedicated to destroying their cultures" nor are they in "a death cult". They are dedicated to trying to find a place to live where they don't get shot and bombed and don't starve to death.
The "death cult" shit is your paranoia being stoked by right-wing fear factories.
Yep, it's always "EVIL" when it's the other side spying. Now if they had total control themselves, they wouldn't cry "wolf" like this, but they'd shut up about it and tell the denizens to go back to their normal lives and live it as if nothing was afoot.
Truth is - we need open source processors and alternatives, so we have an alternative to big corporations that can be forced to make decisions based on the powers that be.
What this world is coming to - is for you and me to decide.
How about simply reality. YES, you should be very much worried about all foreign supplied technology in your countries infrastructure. It basically places you hostage to that other countries control of the companies that supply you that technology. It can be backed doored in all sorts of ways, to intercept data, to censor data, to shut down the transmission of data, YES, it is extremely risky to place the control of your countries infrastructure in the hands of other countries governments via their control of the companies supplying the technology.
Who would I trust the least, well, you know the easy answer would be the USA but in reality Saudi Arabia and Israel would be fucking worse, and a bunch of other corrupt countries but to be honest I would trust China ahead of the USA, quite a ways ahead. Other countries should really stop using code or electronics coming out of the US, it is way more back doored than most would believe, oh yeah, multiple back doors.
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
That's whataboutery.
We know that Russia and China are spying.
Replying "but what about X? What about Y?" doesn't mean that Russia and China aren't spying, or that we shouldn't worry about it: it is only an attempt to change the subject.
https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Whataboutism
If you look how Chinese companies are structured, by their law, a Chinese official has to be on the board, and has the ultimate decision authority. It is equivalent to having someone from the NSA, CIA, DHS, or DEA be the deciding person on a US company's board in every decision made. Yes people argue, but US companies can give the middle finger to the government. Not so in China where attempts to do so will have people and their families send off somewhere to be "re-educated".
Even a foreign company doing business on Chinese soil cannot do so unless a Chinese counterpart (and thus the PRC) owns 51% of the venture.
So, yes, China is a threat, as anything Huawei gets, the Chinese government gets, and that info can be easily sold. They may not hurt you or your family, but they can find someone who can.
Let's be honest here, China doesnt give a flying fuck about *my* secrets, and frankly I'd rather the Chinese or Russians had a backdoor to my data than my own fucking government, Duh.
Funny how the government(s) here dont like backdoors in their *own* shit, but want to mandatory install them in *everyone else's* shit.
Yeah, little trouble ginning up sympathy here for anyone other than joe and jane consumer, who get fucked either way.
The U.S. government is not perfect but I think a great deal not as bad as the Chinese government, in so many ways. And China has been particularly aggressive in its spying, using technology and human assets in the United States and Europe. Chinese aggression against its weaker neighbors is legendary, pushing them around in the the South China sea and other places -- even Chinese fishermen boarding other nation's boats and attacking them with clubs.
Furthermore, the "disappearances" of people in all regions but particularly minority regions has been vast and relentless for decades. Chinese denials of shooting Tibetans crossing the border on foot toward Nepal, for example, was shut down after European mountain climbers video recorded it. China has led the world and the predominant supplier of human organs. The company that builds its "death mobiles" was bragging about growing production demand for them, about 5 years ago when production rates were 1000 per year. Those bodies exhibits, each holding around 200 bodies, in various cities around the U.S. simultaneously were interestingly stocked with Chinese youth, roughly in their 20's (almost exclusively). And of course, there are the camps with millions of minorities for re-education. How many Tibetan monks taken have every been seen again? At one time, over 8,000 were taken never to be seen again.
Our country (the United States) has all kinds of problems but I really think we need to not lose perspective.
The big concern is that if you are a tech business and use Huawei products in your infrastructure at some point a Chinese competitor of yours will end up with your trade secrets.
How is this any different when US companies receive secret FISA warrants?