On July 10, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) — the country’s central Internet regulator — proposed draft cybersecurity review measures.
According to Article 6 of the draft, businesses that intend to be listed on foreign stock exchanges and possess the personal electronic information of more than 1 million customers must report for a review by the CAC.
The draft measures followed the agency’s announcements days earlier of cybersecurity reviews of China’s ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing, YMM-Full Truck Alliance Co, Guiyang Huochebang Technology Co and Boss Zhipin. The reviews of these four major platforms were based on the amendments, which had yet to be announced.
On July 9, just days after Didi launched an initial public offering in the US, the CAC ordered the removal of Didi’s apps from app stores in the country, along with 25 related apps, for “serious violations of laws and regulations” in its collection and use of personal information. This has highlighted that in China, enforcement comes first and legislation later.
Article 2 of the draft states: “Critical information infrastructure operators ... procuring network products and services and data handlers ... conducting data handling activities that influence or may influence national security should conduct a cybersecurity review according to these measures.”
This article clearly shows that the draft is not restricted to companies that intend to conduct listings in a foreign country or companies holding personal information of more than 1 million users.
Instead, operators conducting data handling activities that “influence or may influence” China’s national security are included.
What is the standard for determining what affects national security? Based on China’s culture of letting politics lead and law enforcement serve the overall situation, authorities are given much leeway in terms of administrative discretion. This is like holding a knife to the neck of businesses, and it carries great uncertainty.
The draft has empowered Chinese government agencies to launch cybersecurity reviews at any time of their choosing in the name of national security.
The result for Taiwanese businesses operating in China could be that they lose competitiveness by having to give up business secrets, and they could even become targets of fabricated charges.
Faced with this situation, Taiwanese businesspeople working in China should prepare to protect their business information and lessen the impact.
Yu Kung is a Taiwanese businessman working in China.
Translated by Eddy Chang
US President Donald Trump has gotten off to a head-spinning start in his foreign policy. He has pressured Denmark to cede Greenland to the United States, threatened to take over the Panama Canal, urged Canada to become the 51st US state, unilaterally renamed the Gulf of Mexico to “the Gulf of America” and announced plans for the United States to annex and administer Gaza. He has imposed and then suspended 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico for their roles in the flow of fentanyl into the United States, while at the same time increasing tariffs on China by 10
As an American living in Taiwan, I have to confess how impressed I have been over the years by the Chinese Communist Party’s wholehearted embrace of high-speed rail and electric vehicles, and this at a time when my own democratic country has chosen a leader openly committed to doing everything in his power to put obstacles in the way of sustainable energy across the board — and democracy to boot. It really does make me wonder: “Are those of us right who hold that democracy is the right way to go?” Has Taiwan made the wrong choice? Many in China obviously
US President Donald Trump last week announced plans to impose reciprocal tariffs on eight countries. As Taiwan, a key hub for semiconductor manufacturing, is among them, the policy would significantly affect the country. In response, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) dispatched two officials to the US for negotiations, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC) board of directors convened its first-ever meeting in the US. Those developments highlight how the US’ unstable trade policies are posing a growing threat to Taiwan. Can the US truly gain an advantage in chip manufacturing by reversing trade liberalization? Is it realistic to
Last week, 24 Republican representatives in the US Congress proposed a resolution calling for US President Donald Trump’s administration to abandon the US’ “one China” policy, calling it outdated, counterproductive and not reflective of reality, and to restore official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, enter bilateral free-trade agreement negotiations and support its entry into international organizations. That is an exciting and inspiring development. To help the US government and other nations further understand that Taiwan is not a part of China, that those “one China” policies are contrary to the fact that the two countries across the Taiwan Strait are independent and
RSS