China Says Push for Companies’ Encryption Keys Follows U.S. Lead
China dismissed U.S. President Barack Obama’s concerns that new security laws would require foreign companies to open backdoors to their networks, saying the U.S. and the U.K. have long sought the same access.
“Many Western governments, including the governments of the U.S. and the U.K., have for many years asked technology companies to disclose their encryption keys,” Fu Ying, spokeswoman for China’s National People’s Congress, said Wednesday in Beijing. “This step is aimed at preventing and investigating terrorist activities.”
Passage of China’s first anti-terrorism law is a priority for the country’s legislature, which is tackling issues from corruption to economic growth at its annual session this week. Cybersecurity has been a major source of tension with the U.S. as the two nations trade accusations over spying and the hacking of corporate computer systems.
