{"id":1212,"date":"2019-12-02T23:08:03","date_gmt":"2019-12-02T14:08:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/?p=1212"},"modified":"2019-12-02T23:19:33","modified_gmt":"2019-12-02T14:19:33","slug":"huawei-providing-surveillance-tech-to-chinas-xinjiang-authorities-report-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/2019\/12\/02\/huawei-providing-surveillance-tech-to-chinas-xinjiang-authorities-report-finds\/","title":{"rendered":"Huawei providing surveillance tech to China\u2019s Xinjiang authorities, report finds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NATHAN VANDERKLIPPE<\/a>ASIA CORRESPONDENTBEIJINGPUBLISHED NOVEMBER 29, 2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/world\/article-huawei-providing-surveillance-tech-to-chinas-xinjiang-authorities\/?fbclid=IwAR2N5vKCjOpaKHu4ajY-Xk5pHw3ZiD_9L8Uan7wb_yBfEkIT8-DzGh1SROw<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chinese technology giant Huawei has provided sophisticated computing and big data services to authorities in the country\u2019s northwestern Xinjiang region, where officials have ordered the construction of an extensive network of digital surveillance and control even as large numbers of Muslims remain locked inside prison-like centres for political indoctrination and skills training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June, Huawei\u2019s global cybersecurity and privacy officer, John Suffolk, said the company does not directly do business with security services in Xinjiang, saying it works only with third-party contractors. \u201cWe stay in the commercial space,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But considerable evidence suggests otherwise, underscoring Huawei\u2019s role as a provider of technology for a powerful state monitoring apparatus that authorities say is designed to stamp out radicalization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea that Huawei is not working directly with local governments in Xinjiang is \u201cjust straight-up nonsense,\u201d said Vicky Xu, a researcher with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute\u2019s Cyber Policy Centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She documented her findings in a report, released this week, that relies in part on Huawei\u2019s own publications to show the company has worked with the Karamay Police Department on cloud-computing projects; with the Public Security Bureau of Aksu Prefecture on a modular data centre; with the regional capital, Urumqi, on the establishment of an \u201cintelligent security industry\u201d innovation lab; and with the Xinjiang Broadcast and Television Network Co. Ltd. on a co-operative project whose goals include \u201ccreating good public opinion for achieving Xinjiang\u2019s general goals of social stability and long-term stability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Governments around the world, including Canada\u2019s, have worried that Huawei telecommunications technology could be used by China for espionage, something Huawei has denied. But it\u2019s time for Western governments to also consider the company\u2019s willingness to help build the infrastructure of authoritarianism, Ms. Xu said, especially after the U.S. blacklisted 28 Chinese organizations \u2013 including surveillance-camera giant Hikvision, but not Huawei \u2013 over their roles in human-rights violations in Xinjiang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen it comes to Huawei, it seems that whatever they are doing in Xinjiang, whatever they are doing to help the Chinese government crack down on Uyghurs and other minorities, is just not even part of the conversation. And that\u2019s really astonishing,\u201d Ms. Xu said. Uyghurs are a largely Muslim group who have been the chief target of a forced indoctrination and skills training campaign in Xinjiang, where officials say they have used such tactics to successfully prevent terrorist attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor me, it\u2019s more a concern that Huawei is a company that strictly adheres to whatever the Chinese government wants them to do,\u201d Ms. Xu said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Huawei does is not \u201cvery different to what Hikvision is doing,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement, Huawei said it does not comment on specific customers \u201cbut reaffirms that its safe city technology \u2013 which is general purpose and based on global standards \u2013 complies with all applicable laws where it is sold. Huawei does not operate safe city networks on behalf of any customers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STORY CONTINUES BELOW ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Suffolk was more explicit in his June comments to the British House of Commons science and technology committee. \u201cI don\u2019t think it matters whether it is a dodgy regime. It matters what is in the law,\u201d he said. \u201cWe do not create any moral judgments on what we think is right or wrong. That is for lawmakers to do.\u201d He declined comment on whether the Chinese state represses human rights and rejected a characterization of himself as \u201ca moral vacuum.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Chinese tech companies, the construction of digital security infrastructure in Xinjiang has been a boon. The region is spending more than US$7.5-billion on surveillance alone, analysts with Sinolink Securities wrote in a 2018 report, while Essence Securities has reported that Xinjiang authorities want to build a smart security cluster worth almost US$20-billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the companies operating there have become household names in the West. They include online retail giant Alibaba, which has supplied technology for cloud computing to the Xinjiang government for use in policing and counterterrorism, and ByteDance, the creator of short-video app TikTok, whose platforms have been praised by local authorities in Xinjiang as avenues to promote regional products. (Users and U.S. lawmakers have accused ByteDance of censoring foreign content on TikTok, in accordance with Beijing\u2019s demands, a charge the company has denied.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

State-backed technologies firms such as China Unicom and China Mobile, meanwhile, have sent employees to participate in home-visit programs in Xinjiang that have been criticized as an invasive surveillance program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What sets Huawei apart, however, is its ambition to become a global giant in digital security technology, building on its expertise in chip making, cloud computing and wireless networks. The company released two dozen new smart surveillance cameras this year. In August, Duan Aiguo, the head of its security products branch, said global shipments of Huawei smart cameras were up 460 per cent over the past year, while other security services had \u201cachieved explosive growth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2018, a Huawei executive said the company wanted to become No. 3 in the world for smart surveillance technology. This year, Mr. Duan set a more ambitious goal: \u201cWe won\u2019t stop until we are No. 1.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Morning Update and Evening Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day\u2019s most important headlines. <\/em>Sign up today<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NATHAN VANDERKLIPPEASIA CORRESPONDENTBEIJINGPUBLISHED NOVEMBER 29, 2019 https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/world\/article-huawei-providing-surveillance-tech-to-chinas-xinjiang-authorities\/?fbclid=IwAR2N5vKCjOpaKHu4ajY-Xk5pHw3ZiD_9L8Uan7wb_yBfEkIT8-DzGh1SROw Chinese technology giant Huawei has provided sophisticated computing and big data services to authorities in the country\u2019s northwestern … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1213,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[4,5],"class_list":["post-1212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-human-rights","tag-mass-detention"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1212"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1212\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1215,"href":"https:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1212\/revisions\/1215"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}