Through the Thousand Talents Plan and other such programs, China pays thousands of scientists around the world to moonlight at Chinese institutions, often without disclosing the work to their primary employers. In some cases, researchers spend months in China without the knowledge of the U.S. institutions that employ them.
On Jan. 1, China’s cryptography law becomes effective.
These measures show Beijing’s ambition to seize all communications, data, and other information stored in electronic form that belong to foreign companies, according to author and China expert Gordon Chang.
“There will be no secrets,” he said. “Because [firms] have to turn over encryption keys, they can’t use VPNs [virtual private networks] to get around the rules. Everything they have in China on their networks will become available to the Ministry of State Security and the Communist Party.”
In addition, Chinese officials may share seized information with China’s state-owned enterprises to give them a competitive advantage against their foreign competitors.
The new cybersecurity rules may also result in foreign companies losing trade-secret protection around the world.
“If China actually enforces these rules to the maximum extent, they’ll be able to take over the Fortune 500,” Chang said. “So, obviously, we’ve got to do something about it.
Manufacturing information, negotiations with customers, prices etc and access to internal networks will be open to the Chinese Communist Party. Why should a Western company be operating in in China, if the result is that they steal the business?