The Chinese government is working to make it possible for China’s Ministry of Security to obtain access to virtually all data that is transmitted across networks within the country’s borders or stored on Chinese servers. This aim is part of a national cybersecurity law adopted by Beijing in 2016. According to Guo Qiquan who spearheads the effort, the new system “will cover every district, every ministry, every business and other institution, basically covering the whole society. It will also cover all targets that need [cybersecurity] protection, including all networks, information systems, cloud platforms, the internet of things, control systems, big data and mobile internet.”
From January 2020, foreign businesses operating in China will be subject to the new digital surveillance system in the exact same manner as local companies. This means that those firms will no longer be able to use intra-company VPN systems to keep their data out of the hands of the Chinese government. In other words, China’s Cybersecurity Bureau will have access to the raw data of all email and chat conversations, data transfers and other digital traffic of every single company and individual in the country.
Read more: China’s New Cybersecurity Program: NO Place to Hide
