Slashdot Mirror
US Pressed Chinese Firms To Show One Example of When They Resisted Request For Data From Chinese Government, But They Have Never Done So: WSJ (wsj.com)
The latest in the Huawei saga, which is increasing tension between the U.S. and China. WSJ reports about a remarkable event: Confronted with U.S. accusations of cyber espionage, Chinese companies and government officials often accuse Washington of hypocrisy, pointing to allegations in 2013 by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden that the U.S. had been hacking into key Chinese networks for years. Western officials say systems of checks and balances in their countries allow for companies to challenge those demands, unlike in China.
To further highlight that difference, U.S. officials have repeatedly pressed Chinese companies to demonstrate to them one example of a time they resisted a request for data from the Chinese government, but they have never done so, according to a person familiar with those conversations. U.S. intelligence officials have suggested at times that their views on Huawei are informed by definitive examples of malfeasance, though they have so far refused to share such evidence publicly. When the House Intelligence Committee in 2012 published an unclassified report naming Huawei as a security risk, it spoke generally about a lack of trust lawmakers placed in China but steered clear of providing concrete examples of the company being caught engaging in nefarious activity.
To further highlight that difference, U.S. officials have repeatedly pressed Chinese companies to demonstrate to them one example of a time they resisted a request for data from the Chinese government, but they have never done so, according to a person familiar with those conversations. U.S. intelligence officials have suggested at times that their views on Huawei are informed by definitive examples of malfeasance, though they have so far refused to share such evidence publicly. When the House Intelligence Committee in 2012 published an unclassified report naming Huawei as a security risk, it spoke generally about a lack of trust lawmakers placed in China but steered clear of providing concrete examples of the company being caught engaging in nefarious activity.
TFA is just a long Whataboutism rant. The fact that Chinese firms acquiesce to demands from the Chinese government, in no way whatsoever excuses the misbehavior of the American government.
The Chinese judicial system is not comparable to the American system. They do not have an independent judiciary, so expecting a company to "challenge" an order doesn't make much sense. They also do not have an adversarial system, with a defense attorney and prosecutor trying to "win" regardless of the merits of the case, with an impartial judge as arbitrator. In China, the judge is often actively involved in the investigation, and will directly question witnesses. Their justice system works completely differently, in both good ways and bad.
The journalist Alistair Cook pointed this out in the 1970's. It's a linguistic thing. In Mandarin, China is not a geographical space in which the government, people and corporations are separate and distinct actors. China is the government, and the people and corporations are permitted to be extensions of that.