China trying to rope India, Russia in cyber pact against West

Times of India

TNN

BEIJING: China wants India and other BRICS countries to accept its idea of “cyber sovereignity” that would allow each country to govern the cyber space in the manner they want without facing interference from other countries. Beijing plans to move a proposal for cross-border agreement on the issue at the next BRICSsummit, which China will host, later this year.

“As BRICS host this year, China stands ready to work together with Russia and other BRICS partners”, Long Zhou, Coordinator, Cyber affairs division of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, told journalist today after releasing a white paper on international cooperation in the cyber space. China is due to host BRICS summit later this year.

The idea of “cyber sovereignity” flies against calls for Internet freedom in China, which has banned international sites like Goggle, Facebook and Twitter besides scores of foreign media sites. It is encouraging Chinese versions of these sites like Baidu and Sina Weibo, to operate in China which has the world’s highest Internet connectivity+ .

India may be reluctant to accept the Chinese model because much of the Indian IT industry is linked to western markets, where the Internet is largely free.

The agreement that China is pushing among members of BRICS and SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Agreement), smacks of a pact against what it regards as western hegemony over the Internet world.

China, Russia and Central Asian counties are members of SCO. India and Pakistan which have observer status, are expected to be made a fulfleged member of SCO soon.

China is trying to persuade world governments and international agencies including the United Nations to accept the principal of “cyber sovereignity” that allows each country to govern the Internet in the manner it wants to without interference from other governments. Long said Beijing was trying to extend the existing principal on land, air and sea soverignity, which is recognized by the UN, to the cyber world because the problems and situations are similar.

Chinese officials maintain that the internet is free in China, and only a small section of websites that “undermine” the country’s national interests are banned. But officials did not explain how these international sites hurt China’s national interests.

“The Chinese Internet is fully open,” said Wang Jianchao, International Cooperation Department of the Cyberspace Administration of China. “As long as they comply withChinese laws and regulations+ , refrain from undermining China’s national interests and interests of Chinese consumers, all Internet companies are welcome in China.”

The officials spoke at length about close cooperation between China and Russia, another Communist country, in pushing for the “cyber soverignity” principal at the UN and other international bodies.

Officials said that the “International Strategy of Cooperation on Cyberspace”, which was released today, is China’s first policy paper on its Internet strategy, which it said was “based on peace, sovereignty, shared governance and shared benefits.”

 

The paper defined China’s “strategic goals” as “safeguarding of China’s sovereignty, security and development interests in cyberspace; the secure and orderly flow of information on the Internet; improved global connectivity; and maintaining of peace, security and stability in cyberspace.”

Long was asked about allegations of Russian interference in the US election, “Especially in recent years, the number of cyber security events throughout the world increasing, posing challenges to all countries’ efforts to maintain political, economic stability and protecting all citizens’ rights and interests,” he said.

“Cyber attacks, cyber espionage, surveillance have become major realistic issues confronting all countries,” he said. “Countries in the whole world have increasing concerns in this regard. Cyberspace should not be a space of no laws. At the same time, the international community is also discussing about whether we should produce new international legal instruments to deal with the security situation in cyberspace. For example, how we can crack down on cyber terror or cross-boundary cyber crimes.”