US vs. China Carries Complications, Shortcomings, TPI Told
Tension in relations between the U.S. and China on technology issues such as data security, privacy and telecom gear are making life complicated for some U.S. companies, experts told the Technology Policy Institute. They generally agreed aspects of the current U.S. approach may be unique to this administration and may have shortcomings. Neither the White House nor China's Embassy in Washington commented Wednesday, when the TPI video was released as part of its ongoing conference.
At least since 2000, "we’ve always been in a digital cold war" involving the two countries, said Fiona Alexander, an American University Internet Governance Lab distinguished fellow: "It’s just not always been as obvious." The U.S.-China conflict "has become more public" and increasingly "direct," she said. "There’s a lot more transparency in the negotiations." What's different now is how this White House approaches these issues, Alexander and other academics said. Now, "national security is at the heart of things," with the U.S. taking a "go-it-alone approach," she said. She cited the DOD's 5G request for information, U.S. efforts to have "clean networks" for telecom that lack Chinese-made equipment, and President Donald Trump's executive orders. Many U.S. corporate interests oppose DOD proceeding with the 5G RFI (see 2010190057).
U.S. companies seeking to expand their business in China are "kind of caught" in the middle, said Aynne Kokas, University of Virginia associate professor of media studies. "Interests of U.S. [multinational] firms are diverging" from this country, she said. "The U.S. has frankly not been stepping up to this challenge." America needs "to think about other solutions to handle this challenge," beyond the EOs and entity lists, she said. Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security entity lists target China tech, including chips.
"Blocking certain companies doesn't get at the core of the problem," Kokas emailed us. "Without clear rationale this approach is subject to legal challenges." Because of the ownership structure of many U.S. firms and lack of government tech oversight, it's "hard to know precisely how data is being used or stored," she noted. Data localization has been an issue in foreign countries including China. "Oversight over all US firms with regard to data storage and security," such as via SEC filings, "would provide more transparency," she wrote. "It would also allow for more effective challenges to corporate behavior based on facts."
Some U.S. approaches on tech "are beginning to mirror some of the things we have complained about" from other countries, such as with "clean networks," said New America Cybersecurity Policy and China Digital Economy Fellow Samm Sacks during the virtual conference. She worried this country is setting a precedent that would "legitimize" some of the same frameworks through which China views technology. She and others cited the Trump administration's strategy on TikTok. "Now we have a precedent requiring sale of a stake" of a company to a domestic business, Sacks said. She hoped the U.S. recognizes that "not every type of data is sensitive to national security" and will "carve out" such data in order "to work more with partners and allies."