China Abuses WTO Rules to Control Foreign Tech Firms

Using a loophole in the WTO's clause on national security threats, Beijing has effectively banned foreign competition

A man walks past an Apple logo displayed above a street at a shopping mall in Beijing on March 29, 2013. Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images

The Chinese Communist Party has created a new law that allows it to selectively ban foreign imports while propping up its own companies. The new law uses a loophole in world trade, and could push U.S. technology companies out of China.

It was bundled in the new “national security law,” passed unanimously by the National People’s Congress, China’s faux legislature. It covers nearly every facet of Chinese society, as well as its military interests in deep sea, polar regions, and space.

The clause that has gotten the most attention, however, is one aimed at foreign technology companies. It says all key network infrastructure and information systems in China need to be “secure and controllable.”

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