Chinese President Xi Jinping called the internet the main area and “frontline of the ideological struggle" during a speech at the sixth plenary session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China Nov. 11, 2021.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce posted a warning on its website in January that the People’s Republic of China’s approach to standards is "disruptive to the inherently global nature of many new emerging digital technologies."
"The Central Committee has made it clear that failure in the cyberspace domain will spell disaster for the Party’s long-term governance. The Party therefore attaches great importance to the internet as the main arena, battleground and frontline of the ideological struggle,” Xi said, Xinhua Net News reported Nov. 16, 2021.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said it supports fair, transparent, technology-based international standards. The PRC’s approach to standards “create separately controlled spheres of influence that slow down market growth and impede cooperative efforts to improve global infrastructure, products and services," the chamber’s website reported.
The Chamber wants the National Institute of Standards and Technology to focus on “ensuring due process, robust intellectual property protections and transparency in standardization bodies.”
The PRC pursues global connectivity through the Digital Silk Road, launched in 2015, The Diplomat reported in April 2021. Through the Digital Silk Road, China sets standards through exporting its technologies. Customers get locked into these dependencies that make switching to another product with different specifications difficult and expensive, The Diplomat said.
The Xi administration has been "quietly" working to place Chinese nationals in key leadership positions with international technical standards-setting bodies, The Diplomat reported in December 2021. The U.S. and Europe have worked to develop international standards that prioritize transparency and leadership from the private sector. China's approach is part of "a national strategy to promote international norms that favor Beijing’s interests," The Diplomat said.
