Hong Kong: Beijing has launched an initiative to address global data security issues, a countermove to the US "clean network" program that is aimed at discouraging other countries from using Chinese technology.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced the initiative in Beijing on Tuesday at a seminar on global digital governance.
He said mounting risks for cybersecurity threaten national security, public interests and personal rights.
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The move came amid a deterioration in Wahington-Beijing relations encompassing trade tensions and competition in telecommunications and artificial intelligence technologies, with the US accusing Chinese technology companies of threatening American national security.
"Bent on unilateral acts, a certain country keeps making groundless accusations against others in the name of 'clean' networks and used security as a pretext to prey on enterprises of other countries who have a competitive edge," Wang said, according to a transcript of his speech released by the ministry. "Such blatant acts of bullying must be opposed and rejected."
Wang said that it was important to develop international rules on data security that will "reflect the will and respect the interests of all countries through broad-based participation".
AP
