U.S. Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios said the Beijing regime has built an “advanced authoritarian state” and warned against countries “opening their arms” to Chinese companies for key infrastructure such as 5G network technology and artificial intelligence.
Much of his speech at a major global technology conference in Lisbon, Portugal, was dedicated to urging America and Europe to work together in embracing technology innovation to “defend our free system against our adversaries, that seek to undermine our shared values.” He also singled out Chinese technology giant Huawei at the 2019 Web Summit as an example of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) “extending its authoritarianism abroad.”
“We are fighting to defend the free market system that fuels our innovation,” Kratsios said. “We’re fighting so technological advances driving our economies, strengthening our security, powering our citizens, and defining our future will be built by us with our values.
“If we allow Beijing such a profound degree of access and influence in our technology system, we run the risk of repeating the same mistakes our nation’s [leaders] made nearly 20 years ago. In 2001, our leaders [led] China into the World Trade Organization, expecting that as we opened our economies to them, the country would liberalize politically and economically.
“Instead, China stole our intellectual property. They forced companies to hand over valuable technology ... to access their market, and now, they require access to all data, information, and secrets contained on any server in China,” he continued.
Under Chinese law, Huawei and all other Chinese companies must cooperate with the regime’s Intelligence and Security Services, regardless of where the company actually operates, Kratsios said. He also referenced reports about Huawei installing equipment at the headquarters of the African Union, with the union’s computer system then being hacked and the data being transferred to servers in Shanghai. He said that occurred “every single night for five years.”
“We have the will to make the right choices now, and the courage to ratify our words with actions. The American government is taking a stand and we cannot do this without Europe and our allies around the world,” Kratsios said.