Chinese Military To Bolster Cyber Defences

Chinese State media has reported that the country’s military intends to bolster its cybersecurity capabilities. The move continues the recent Chinese strategy of shunning foreign technology and software.

Cyber Preparedness

“Information security must be considered an underlying project in military battle preparedness,” Reuters quoted the official People’s Liberation Army Daily as reporting. The Chinese military also urged the faster development of local software.

“We will strongly advance the domestic and independent building of programs, and strengthen the foundations of our information security,” it added.

Tensions between China and the West have been racketing up in recent times. Both Microsoft and Qualcomm are being investigated by Chinese authorities over antitrust claims, as the Chinese increase the pressure on Western technology firms doing business in mainland China.

This pressure has seen the banning the user of the technology from many Western firms, including Symantec, Microsoft and Apple. China also said earlier this year that it would vet Western technology companies operating in the country in order to “ensure computer security”.

Recently, Chinese businesses and banks have been replacing Western computers or software in favour of local offerings.

In June, attempts by the United States and China to tackle the scourge of cyber crime together essentially stalled, after the United States filed indictments against members of Unit 61398 of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

Five Chinese nationals – Wang Dong, Sun Kailiang, Wen Xinyu, Huang Zhenyu, and Gu Chunhui – were charged for alleged cyber espionage on a number of US organisations.

China subsequently denied the charges, and argued that Americans were carrying out massive cyber espionage campaigns against Chinese firms, and asked the US to rescind its claims.

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