New Anti-Terrorism Law Will Force Tech Companies Out Of China

Sunday, the National People’s Congress, China’s national legislature, adopted the country’s first anti-terrorism law. The controversial measure will take effect January 1.

A transcript of the NPC press conference Sunday afternoon states that section 18 of the law requires companies to cooperate on “encryption technology” and “computer interface technology.”

In short, the law gives Chinese authorities the right to require companies to surrender encryption keys, the critical passcodes protecting data.

There are two principal problems with the law’s provisions in this regard. First, they will allow Beijing to force foreign companies to surrender proprietary information that will almost surely be given to their Chinese competitors. As The Diplomat’s Shannon Tiezzi correctly points out, this law should be considered in light of Beijing’s goal of eliminating China’s dependence on foreign tech.........................

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