Over a third of global smartphone sales come from Chinese distributors Huawei, Xiaomi and Oppo. These manufacturers have thrived not only because they offer phones with good value for money thanks to Chinese supply chains, but also enjoy a relatively open mobile ecosystem, where consumers in most countries can freely access artists of the caliber of Google, Instagram and WhatsApp.
This opening is under attack when major US-China technology divides into inches closer to reality, which can cause damage to both sides.
The Trump administration's five-pointed Clean Network initiative aims to eliminate the ability of Chinese phone manufacturers to pre-install and download U.S. apps. According to U.S. sanctions, Huawei has already lost access to major Google services, which has dealt a serious blow to overseas telephone sales. Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi and other Chinese phone manufacturers could suffer the same setback as Huawei, if the clean network applies to them.
For years, China has maintained a closed Internet connection with the Great Firewall limit a number of western services, often without explicitly presenting the reasons for the censorship. Now the United States has a plan that could potentially keep Chinese apps off the American network.
The Clean Network program was first announced in April as part of the Trump Administration's efforts to "To protect the privacy of our citizens and the most sensitive information of our societies from the aggressive intrusions of evil actors, such as the Chinese Communist Party."
Beijing said Thursday was firmly against US restrictions on Chinese tech companies and blew up the United States using those actions to preserve its technological hegemony.
Many on Chinese social media compare Trump's clean network proposal with the systematic repressions of cyberspace in China, which regulators say should eliminate pornography, violence, gambling and other "illegal" activities. Others who marry a free Internet connection complain of his impending disappearance.
(1/2) A long, long time ago
I still remember how that network made me smileBut August makes me shiver
With every app I would have delivered
Bad news about the state government
I was unable to reach Pompey's statement- 一天 世界 (@yitianshijieipn) August 6, 2020
It is unclear when the rules would have been implemented and how they would have been applied. The program also aims to remove "untrusted" Chinese apps from the US app stores. To TikTok the ban seems less likely when Microsoft approaches a buyout, but other Chinese apps also have a large presence in the United States. Many, such as WeChat and Weibo, target the diaspora community, while players like Likee and Zynn, owned by Chinese companies are making waves among local users.
Chinese companies are already covered. Some like TikTok they created data centers abroad. Others register their entities overseas and maintain offices in the United States, while resorting to China for cheaper engineering talents. It is simply impractical to investigate - and difficult to determine - the Chinese origin of each app.
Under the program, carriers such as China Mobile connecting with U.S. telecommunications networks is not allowed, which may prevent these services from offering American roaming to Chinese travelers.
The initiative also tells U.S. companies not to store information on Chinese cloud services such as Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu. Chinese cloud providers don't find many customers in the U.S., perhaps except when they host data for their services, such as Tencent games serving American users.
Finally, the framework wants to ensure that US submarine cables that connect to the world "are not subverted for hyper-scale PRC information collection."
Such radical restrictions, if implemented, will almost certainly result in retaliation from China. But what exchange chips are left for Beijing? Apple and Tesla they are the few American tech giants with significant commercial interest in China.
